Summary #1 - Cell Phones

1. Summary

In this article, with the number of cell phone users exponentially increased in recent years, the number of people who use cell phones while driving has also increased (Strayer et al., n.d.). Although the effect of cell phone usage on traffic safety is unknown, cell phone conversations while driving still potentially contribute to the increased number of traffic accidents in recent years. Previous research has proposed that cell phone use while driving has a negative effect on driving performance (Strayer et al., n.d.); however, whether the passive effect is caused by cell phone conversation itself or some other peripheral factors like cell phone holding while driving is still ambiguous. Strayer et al. (n.d.) have established two experiments to assess these. In the first experiment, they chose sixty-four undergraduates in Utah University, divided them into four groups: radio control, book-on-tape control, hand-held cell phone, and hands-free cell phone, and tested their response to the traffic lights in a simulation driving system. The results showed that radio control and book-on-tape control had no effects on driving performance, while hand-held and hands-free cell phone using had equivalent effects on driving performance and both were negative. Thus, Strayer et al. (n.d.) concluded that it was the cell phone conversation itself that has the passive effect on driving. In order to find out the actual source of interference of cell phone using while driving, Strayer et al. (n.d.) established the second experiments. They chose thirty undergraduates in Utah University and tested the number of words, which replaced the traffic signals in the simulation driving system, they had memorized. And the data collected for this one showed that the cell phone using while driving impaired drivers’ ability to attend to information. In the end, Strayer et al. (n.d.) suggested that cell phone usage disrupts driving performance by diverting drivers’ attention, and both hand-held devices and hands-free devices should be restricted while driving since they have equivalent negative effects. (Jiyu)

Reference

Strayer, D. L., Drews, F. A., Albert, R. W., and Johnston, W. A. (n. d.). Cell phone induced perceptual impairments during simulated driving. Univ. of Utah. Retrieved on Feb. 5 from: http://web.arizona.edu/~vas/297/driven.htm


2. First Summary

This article, “Americans can't put down our cell phones — and it's actually killing us,” by Nico Lang, talks about the dangers of using cell phones and how much damage this issue has cost in the past several years. He starts his article with a tragic story that happened at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio as a result of a missing device. A man was killed by a raptor, an amusement park ride, when he jumped into a restricted area to find his phone that went missing during his raptor ride. Then Lang points out that the number of deaths of people outside their cars, involving cell phones, rose between the years 2009 to 2013, as 91% of people now own a cell phone, as Pew research clarified. People are aware of the risk of using their cell phone while not paying attention to their surroundings, yet they still use them profusely. Lang also mentions examples of some states such as Pennsylvania and Florida that use awareness signs and advertisements to warn people about the hazards of using their phone while driving. Lang quotes Kate Carr, CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide, when she says "Every hour of everyday a teen is either hit and injured or hit and killed by a vehicle on the road" to emphasize the danger of this matter. It is not only the fault of the person behind the wheel, but also pedestrians who don’t pay attention to their surroundings while listening to music, texting and surfing the Internet. Lang finishes his article by saying that people can do different activities in life instead of just spending the whole time with using phones. (Eve)

Work Cited

Lang, N. (2015, August 20). Americans can't put down our cell phones - and it's actually killing us. The Week. Retrieved February 09, 2016, from http://theweek.com/articles/572481/americans-cant-down-cell-phones--actually-killing


3. 6 Mobile applications to prevent distracted driving accidents

According to this article, cell phones increase the risk of accidents because of sending texts, checking email and making a phone call while driving. Companies spend a lot of money to compensate for their employees' crashes, injuries and fatalities caused by cell phones. In August 2011, 33 states in the U.S. do not allow just text messages and only 8 states have prohibited using cell phones while driving. Although the government has prohibited it by law, it is not possible to control numerous people on the road. As a result, people invent applications to prevent the use of cell phones while driving. They introduce 6 different kinds of applications. In brief, their main function is that these applications put cell phones in inactivate mode while driving. When they detect speed or motion of driving the application automatically answers whatever they received. (Jimin)

Lyden, S. (2011, August). 6 Mobile applications to prevent distracted driving accidents. Automotive Fleet. Retrieved on February 7, 2016, http://www.automotive-fleet.com/article/story/2011/08/6-mobile-applications-to-prevent-distracted-driving-accidents.aspx 


4. Summary

In this article, the author said that the young generation was very much addicted to the cell phone even back in 2011. Some people compared cell phones to part of their body and in absence of it they experienced similar feelings when they lost their limb. A research group of University of Maryland led by Professor Susan Moeller conducted a study on more than 1000 students from 10 different counties. The students were asked to switch off their mobile phones and other media for 24 hours and observed their emotions. The participants reported various reactions such as ‘phantom limb’, imaginary phone call, and addiction like drug. They shared common feelings regardless of their country. The author concluded that the young generation were considering cell phones as their ‘security blanket’ and without this they seemed to be helpless. (Nazir)

Reference

Alleyne, R. (2011, April 2011). The young generation are ‘addicted’ to mobile phones. The Telegraph. Retrieved on 07 February, 2016. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/8458786/The-young-generation-are-addicted-to-mobile-phones.html


5. Watch out: Cell Phones can be addictive

The author of this article states that the use of cell phones can turn into an addictive habit. Kowalski (2014) says that some people use cell phones to lift their mood and they would panic or get angry if they do not have access to their phone. The author also brings up gender differences and cell phone use in this article. She mentions that men tend to use their cell phones for entertainment and to seek information, whereas women use cell phones to maintain their relationships, and thus women spend more time using their cell phones. Finally, Kowalski (2014) states that it is difficult to say that excessive use of cell phones is a sign of addiction because “there isn’t a good scale yet for measuring all the factors behind cell phone addiction” (p.2). (Abdullah)

Reference:

Kowalski, K. (2014, September 17). Watch out: Cell phones can be addictive. Student Science. Retrieved on Feb 9, 2016 from https://student.societyforscience.org/article/watch-out-cell-phones-can-be-addictive.


6. Cell phones & Life

In modern life, the use of cellphones is not limited in communication. In this news article (Luce, 2011), the author focuses on the influence of cell phones in psychology, community, culture, art and economics of the world. From GPS to the world news – everything is now in the palm of hand, just like a portable computer. However, like other technologies, cell phone has both advantages and disadvantages. It unites all world cultures into one but flattens to maintain the uniqueness of an individual culture. In most countries, government blocks the mobile communication to control the political unrest. The improper usage of cell phones also causes incidents like psychological torture (e.g. blackmailing, threatening etc.), road accidents and distraction of many people. So, it is our duty to use this technology accordingly. (Hla)

Reference:

Luce, J. (2011, May 25). The impact of cell phones on psychology, community, culture, arts and economics. The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 9, 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-luce/the-impact-of-cell-phones_b_508011.html


7. Summary

Cell phone use while driving not only includes hands-free and hand-held cell phone conversation during driving, but also refers to text messaging while driving and text messaging while waiting for red lights. In this article, the author points out that cell phone use while driving has induced more collisions in the past few years. One of reasons for those vehicle accidents is coming from the distraction of drivers’ attention. Obviously, cell phone use while driving increases collision risk sharply. Cell phone use while driving puts a negative effect on drivers’ response; for example, drivers are not sensitive to control speed during driving. The authors show us two data. Firstly, cell phone conversation while driving more easily triggers collision risk by 4-6 times; secondly, text message while driving induces the rising of collision risk by 23 times. (Yu Zhang)

Reference

Lee, V.K. (2013). vol.59. Fatal distraction cell phone use while driving. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3710028/

8. Article Summary

The article presents a communicative project of a group of students from Model Middle, who believe cellphones as well as other means of technology are effective ways to connect different generations. Julia Rutland, the leader, first came up with the idea because she has had enjoyable experiences in helping her grandparents with their cellphones. The project, which is named “Cyber Seniors”, is open to all elders who would like to have sufficient access to communicative technology such as cellphones, tablets, etc... Rutland and her friend are at the local park every Tuesday for one hour to assist the seniors with fundamental tasks on cellphones: deleting messages, zooming out small letters on the screen and so on. The primary responses to this project are positive. For instance, Camella Brown is happy to learn how to give others images by her phones or Charles Parker is eager to learn how to manage his business by phone apps. There are no problems if elders do not possess cellphones; any technological gadget is able to be used in this project. (Hoa Vo)

Reference:

Around the web. (2016, February 6). Students give lessons on cellphones, tablets to senior citizens to bridge technology gap. Northwestgeorgianews. Retrieved on February 8, 2016, from http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/news/local/students-give-lessons-on-cellphones-tablets-to-senior-citizens-to/article_4a324f50-cc99-11e5-9cfc-9b501339e156.html