Notifications Smartphone can affect concentration, study says

All those Facebook and email notifications you receive on your smartphone are increasing their chances of making mistakes in a task, a new study suggests.

Only receive a simple notification on your cell phone can cause enough distraction to impair your ability to concentrate on a particular task, the researchers said. The distraction caused by a notification - whether it is a sound or vibration - is comparable to the effects seen when users are actively using their cell phones to make calls or send text messages, they said.

"The level of how affected the task at hand was really shocking," said Courtney Yehnert, of Florida State University (FSU) research coordinator.

"Although these reports are generally of short duration, which may lead to irrelevant thoughts to the task, or the wandering mind, which has been shown to damage the performance of tasks," the researchers said.

"Notifications cell phone only significantly alter performance on a task demanding attention, even when participants do not interact directly with a mobile device for the task," they said.

The study shows that the mere fact aware a call or a text lost can have the same effect. The results are significant because many public information campaigns intended to discourage the use of cell problem - while driving, for example - often emphasize waiting to respond to messages and calls.