The present study was a pre-registered direct replication of Ward et al.'s (2017) second experiment (OSF pre-registration found at: https://osf.io/5fq4r). This replication assigned both smartphone location (on desk, in pocket/bag, or outside of the testing room) and smartphone power (on, or off) for a total of six conditions. Participants completed an automated operation span (OSpan) task, a Cue-Dependent Go/No-Go task, and the smartphone attachment and dependency inventory. It was hypothesized that performance on an attention-demanding task (i.e., the OSpan task) would be worse for those in closer proximity to their smartphone (on desk) and that those with greater smartphone attachment and dependency would have a larger “brain drain” effect. Using the same tasks and conditions as in Ward et al.'s (2017) second experiment, the present study found that the “brain drain” effect did not replicate: there was no difference between smartphone location conditions on performance on either the o-span task or the go/no-go task. These findings demonstrate that the mere presence of one's smartphone may not be enough to affect cognitive performance. Understanding these effects is crucial in a time where smartphones are a basic necessity.

本研究是 Ward 等人 (2017) 第二个实验的预注册直接复制（OSF 预注册发现于：https://osf.io/5fq4r）。此复制为总共六个条件分配了智能手机位置（在桌子上、口袋/包中或在测试室外）和智能手机电源（打开或关闭）。参与者完成了一项自动化操作跨度 (OSpan) 任务、一项依赖提示的 Go/No-Go 任务以及智能手机附件和依赖项清单。据推测，对于那些更靠近智能手机（在办公桌上）的人来说，在一项需要注意力的任务（即 OSpan 任务）上的表现会更差，而那些对智能手机的依附和依赖程度更高的人将有更大的“人才流失”影响。使用与 Ward 等人 (2017) 第二个实验相同的任务和条件，本研究发现，“人才流失”效应并未复制：智能手机位置条件对 o-span 任务或 go/no-go 任务的性能没有差异。这些发现表明，仅仅存在智能手机可能不足以影响认知表现。在智能手机成为基本必需品的时代，了解这些影响至关重要。