UWEC CERCA 2026

We investigated whether the mere presence of one’s smartphone influences attention-related EEG (electroencephalographic) activity in undergraduates scoring above the median on at least 2 of 3 phone-related survey measures: Phone Time (hours per day), Phone Reliance (dependence on one’s phone), and Nomophobia (fear of lacking functional phone access). Participants first attended and responded to infrequent on-screen visual targets (“oddballs”) while ignoring frequent nontargets; we replicated the classic enlarging effect of oddballs on the P3, an attention-related EEG measure, but the mere presence of one’s nearby phone (vs. a control object) did not reduce the oddball P3. Next, participants focused visually on their phone versus a control object, with no other task. Phones decreased alpha activity (8-13 Hz; associated with relaxation and inward focus) over anterior and posterior electrode sites. Phones also increased beta activity (13-32 Hz; associated with external orientation and arousal/attention) over posterior electrode sites, an effect that correlated positively with participants’ Phone Time, Phone Reliance, and Nomophobia. While these findings do not demonstrate a negative impact of smartphone presence on the brain correlates of task-related attention, they do suggest one’s smartphone can draw attentional resources proportional to one’s phone use and related problems.