You may work with a partner. The requirements and grading criteria will be the same whether you work alone or with a partner. You will both receive the same grade for your collaborative effort. However, the way Canvas works each of you will need to submit a copy of the paper.
As for specifics the paper should be around 3-5 pages long. That’s about 1500 words. You should cite at least 3 references, but you certainly can have more. You need to cite references in the paper as you use them and in a reference list at the end of the paper. And since this is psychology your references should be according to APA (American Psychological Association) style. That means in the body of the paper you include the author and year such as ‘according to Jones (2020) …’ And in the reference list at the end all the information a person would need to find that source. That would be author(s), year of publication, article title, journal title and page numbers. Similar details if you cite a video. Simply providing a link or url address is not providing a reference. Those can change. Case in point, my webpage is no longer accessible since they revamped the college website earlier this year.
And the paper is due December 6th by 11:59 pm. So there’s plenty of time. And I’ve also set up a voluntary, non-graded discussion board here for questions about the paper.
The Effect of Cell Phones
Obviously as cell phones have evolved and become increasingly versatile people have become
ever more dependent on them. They are easy to carry and keep close
at hand while being
extremely useful for a wide variety of different purposes. People use them for social
connectivity by way of calls, texting, emails, internet access and social media. People use them
for entertainment such as reading books, listening t
o music, video streaming and playing games.
And people use them for practical purposes such as looking up information, shopping, banking,
GPS, finding transportation (Uber and Lyft) and household security. At this point they have
encroached on nearly every
aspect of our lives. It’s no wonder that a lot of people find their cell
phone to be indispensable. People have become very attached to cell phones, to the point where
they feel they can’t be without one.
How do we categorize our dependence on cell phon
es? Are cell phones simply useful tools and
sources of entertainment? Do they serve as vital links to our social connections? Are they an
essential element to functioning in the modern world? Or have they come to be an absolutely
indispensable extension of
ourselves?
Part of the answer to this question is determining how
this dependence on cell phones develops. Why do we find ourselves spending more an
d
more
time using them? What are the factors contributing to, and maintaining this?
Psychology needs to con
sider this unprecedented connection to technology. Parents are now
giving small children cell phones to placate them so they don’t whine, cry or misbehave. There
is evidence that this may delay the normal course of development. Does having a cell phone,
wi
th its constant flow of incoming data and immediate access to resources, affect one’s ability to
pay attention and concentrate, one’s ability to learn and remember information, one’s ability to
effectively interact with others in real world face
–
to
–
face si
tuations? Are cell phones really
enhancing our lives or diminishing them? It has been argued that cell phone use adversely
affects academic performance and in conjunction with social media has ultimately had the
paradoxical effect of creating social isolat
ion for many.
Psychologists and others have adopted a number of different positions on these questions. The
research paper assignment is for you to adopt and defend one of these positions. You will need
to find and cite relevant scientific research in su
pport of your arguments. You can also use
anecdotal accounts form your own observations and experience. You could even perform your
own personal experiment, such as going a full day without using your cell phone or other social
media connection like a comp
uter, and elaborating on the experience.
Position A: Cell phones really aren’t a problem. People spend a lot of time using them simply
as a matter of their utility. They provide a quick and easy way to get things done. And once
people have accomplished w
hat they need to do, cell phones also provide quick and easy access
to entertainment. Without cell phones people would simply be spending more time on
computers, video games and watching television. (Note: This position may seem easy to defend,
but article
s that don’t find an effect or a problem seldom get published. So you may have to take
the approach of finding flaws in research that indicates cell phones are problematic.)
Position B: Cell phone use is simply a matter of social conformity. As more and m
ore people
have cell phones there is more pressure to have one yourself, lest you be that one person that
doesn’t have a cell phone. People want to belong, to be part of a group. That engenders a strong
tendency to conform. Nowadays, it’s hard to part of t
he group if you’re not connected to the
group. And that means having a cell phone and being available at all times, like everybody else.
Position C: Cell phone use is governed by principles of operant conditioning. They give us
information when we need i
t, messages from friends, fun pictures from social media, the great
deals from online shopping and the satisfaction of getting to the next level of that video game.
All of these things provide strong behavioral reinforcement leading to continued use. In
ad
dition, there are also punishments. There are negative punishments, which usually involve
missing out on opportunities. Examples include not getting the invite to that party because you
didn’t check your email, missing the flash sale at a favorite store be
cause you didn’t get the text
notice or simply being bored because you don’t have your cell phone to watch a video or play a
game. More importantly, there are positive punishments producing aversive consequences if
you aren’t carrying your cell phone and a
ccessible at all times. Examples include getting
chastised by family or friends for missing some event because you didn’t get the notification or
being reprimanded because your boss couldn’t contact you to cover another employee’s shift or
provide some pie
ce of information. And regarding employment, your degree of connectivity
could play a role in your being passed over for promotion or even lead to dismissal.
Position D: Taking it one step further, where punishment is involved there is always the desire
to avoid punishment. And that is often coupled with actual fear of punishment. The latter
depending on the individual’s perception of the severity of the punishment. And for some the
punishments tied to not having one’s cell phone and the connectivity it
provides could evoke
responses of fear and anxiety when they don’t have access to their device. To avoid this, they
always have it with them. They never leave it behind, for fear of the consequences. And this is
what psychologists are referring to when th
ey discuss
cell phone dependence as a phobia.
Nomophobia is the term for the fear of being without a mobile device and the connectivity it
provides. It is considered an anxiety disorder and there are diagnostic criteria for determining if
an individual is
affected.
Position E: Finally, the most extreme view of cell phone dependence sees it as actual
dependence, as a form of addiction. This view takes the idea of cell phones providing
reinforcement and being without one leading to punishment to another le
vel. Simply put, the
intense attachment to cell phones that some people have goes way beyond the idea of people
liking the rewards they provide to the idea that they need them. And being without one’s cell
phone results in not simply missing those rewards,
but craving them. On this view, the anxiety
and discomfort generated when one doesn’t have their cell phone are not manifestations of a
phobia, they are signs of withdrawal. Our modern understanding of addictions has gone beyond
the idea of substance abus
e to a number of behaviors that trigger the same reward centers in the
brain. So much like a gambling addiction or a shopping addiction, the same principles apply to
cell phone addiction.
Position B: Cell phone use is simply a matter of social conformity. As more and m
ore people
have cell phones there is more pressure to have one yourself, lest you be that one person that
doesn’t have a cell phone. People want to belong, to be part of a group. That engenders a strong
tendency to conform. Nowadays, it’s hard to part of t
he group if you’re not connected to the
group. And that means having a cell phone and being available at all times, like everybody else.
Position C: Cell phone use is governed by principles of operant conditioning. They give us
information when we need i
t, messages from friends, fun pictures from social media, the great
deals from online shopping and the satisfaction of getting to the next level of that video game.
All of these things provide strong behavioral reinforcement leading to continued use. In
ad
dition, there are also punishments. There are negative punishments, which usually involve
missing out on opportunities. Examples include not getting the invite to that party because you
didn’t check your email, missing the flash sale at a favorite store be
cause you didn’t get the text
notice or simply being bored because you don’t have your cell phone to watch a video or play a
game. More importantly, there are positive punishments producing aversive consequences if
you aren’t carrying your cell phone and a
ccessible at all times. Examples include getting
chastised by family or friends for missing some event because you didn’t get the notification or
being reprimanded because your boss couldn’t contact you to cover another employee’s shift or
provide some pie
ce of information. And regarding employment, your degree of connectivity
could play a role in your being passed over for promotion or even lead to dismissal.
Position D: Taking it one step further, where punishment is involved there is always the desire
to avoid punishment. And that is often coupled with actual fear of punishment. The latter
depending on the individual’s perception of the severity of the punishment. And for some the
punishments tied to not having one’s cell phone and the connectivity it
provides could evoke
responses of fear and anxiety when they don’t have access to their device. To avoid this, they
always have it with them. They never leave it behind, for fear of the consequences. And this is
what psychologists are referring to when th
ey discuss
cell phone dependence as a phobia.
Nomophobia is the term for the fear of being without a mobile device and the connectivity it
provides. It is considered an anxiety disorder and there are diagnostic criteria for determining if
an individual is
affected.
Position E: Finally, the most extreme view of cell phone dependence sees it as actual
dependence, as a form of addiction. This view takes the idea of cell phones providing
reinforcement and being without one leading to punishment to another le
vel. Simply put, the
intense attachment to cell phones that some people have goes way beyond the idea of people
liking the rewards they provide to the idea that they need them. And being without one’s cell
phone results in not simply missing those rewards,
but craving them. On this view, the anxiety
and discomfort generated when one doesn’t have their cell phone are not manifestations of a
phobia, they are signs of withdrawal. Our modern understanding of addictions has gone beyond
the idea of substance abus
e to a number of behaviors that trigger the same reward centers in the
brain. So much like a gambling addiction or a shopping addiction, the same principles apply to
cell phone addiction.
