Smartphones in Hand, Brain in a Jam: How Smartphone Addiction Leads to Cognitive Failures

Smartphone addiction has emerged as a salient behavioral concern, with growing evidence linking excessive use to disruptions in cognitive functioning, including attention, memory, and executive control (Montag & Becker, 2023; Panova & Carbonell, 2018). The present study examined the predictive relationship between smartphone addiction and cognitive failures among 131 university students (M age = 22.10, SD = 2.41). Participants completed validated measures of smartphone addiction and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, including subscales for Forgetfulness, Distractibility, and False Triggering. Pearson’s correlations revealed significant, positive associations between smartphone addiction and overall cognitive failures (r = .423, p < .01), as well as with Forgetfulness (r = .402), Distractibility (r = .369), and False Triggering (r = .432). Simple linear regressions indicated that smartphone addiction significantly predicted cognitive failures (β = .462, 95% CI [.290, .635], p < .01), Forgetfulness (β = .479, 95% CI [.289, .669], p < .01), Distractibility (β = .431, 95% CI [.242, .620], p < .01), and False Triggering (β = .562, 95% CI [.358, .767], p < .01), explaining between 13.6% and 18.6% of variance in these outcomes. These findings align with neurocognitive models suggesting that habitual smartphone engagement may fragment attentional resources, impair working memory, and increase susceptibility to irrelevant environmental cues (Hadlington, 2015; Wilmer et al., 2017). The results underscore the need for targeted interventions to mitigate the cognitive costs of excessive smartphone use, particularly in young adult populations where device dependency is prevalent. Results reveal that the moderator variables such as gender, birth order, family system and educational levels are crucial in enhancing the relationship between smartphone addiction and cognitive failures.