TeensAttachmenttoTechnology

By:Brigid,Soma,andCady

Abstract
Howdoestechnologyaffectus?isaquestionbeingaskedbyeveryconcernedparent,curious
researcher,andtechnologyuserintheworldinthisdayandage.Ourcuriosityregardingthesame
questioniswhatmotivatedustoresearchit.Fromourstudies,wecantellthatitcreatesasubconscious
addictionthatwedontrealizeisthere(hencethesubconscious)untilitistakenaway.Toaddressthe
questionofwhyarepeoplesoattachedtotheirtechnology,andifpeoplewerentonitforacertain
amountoftime,whataffectwouldithaveontheiremotionalandphysicalwellbeing?weexamined
studies,anditwasspeculatedthatyoungadultsaremostlikelyaddictednottothetechnologypersay,but
tothedopaminereleasethattechnologystimulates.

Introduction
Tobeginthisproject,weweregiventhepromptofHowdoestechnologyaffectusourwell
being,safety,health,abilitytolearnanddevelopment?andtoldtoexpanduponit.Wearedoingthis
projecttobuildskillsinspreadsheets,findingreliablesources,communicatingourfindings,etc.,butalso
tostudytheeffectsoftechnologyinrecenttimes,asithassuchahugeeffectonallofourlives.As
teengaersthatspendobnoxiousamountsoftime,accordingtosome,engrossedintechnology,wethink
itisfittingthatwearestudyingoneofthekeypartstooursocialandemotionallives,andwhyitissuch.
Ourmotivationcomesfromourcuriosityaboutthismorerecentglobalphenomenon,andtheeffectsthat
ithas,mainlyonourgeneration.
Themainthingwestudiedisthesocialandemotionaleffectstechnologyhasonpeople,more
specifically,teens.WechosesourcessuchastheInternationalCenterforMedia&thePublicAgenda
(ICMPA)andtheSalzburgAcademyonMedia&GlobalChange,whocollaboratedonaglobalstudyof
universitystudentsandtheirtechnologyuse,morespecifically,whathappenedwhentheydidnt.In
almosteveryarticleorstudyweencountered,technologywascomparedtoadrug.Stimulantsin
technology,internet,andespeciallysocialmedia,releasedopamineintothebrain.Dopamineisessentially
achemicalandneurotransmitter(achemicalthatissentfromaneurons(nervecells)tostimulateother
neurons)thatcontrolsthepartofthebrainthatmakesushappy,andcanbehighlyaddictive,hencethe
feelingofaddiction.Inthisreport,wewillbeexplaininghowwestudiedthemethodsofotherstocome
upwithaconclusiontoanswerourquestionandaddressourhypothesis.

QuestionandHypothesis:
Question
:Whyarepeoplesoattachedtoourtechnology,andifpeoplewerentonitforacertainamount
oftime,whataffectwouldithaveontheiremotionalandphysicalwellbeing?
Hypothesis
:Iftechnologywasremovedfromyoungadultsforaday,thentheywouldfeelextremeloss
becausemostyoungadultsareverydependentandemotionallyconnectedtotheirphone.

Methods&Materials
Ratherthanconductanexperimentofourown,westudiedthoseofothers.TheICMPAStudyis
oneofthebeststudieswefound,sowewillsubstitutethatforourexperiment,becauseitiswhatwe
wouldhavedoneonasmallerscale.
Thiswasafairlysimpleexperiment.Therewasnocontrolsincethebasewouldbeeverynormal
day(basicallyjustwhentheywerentabstainingfromusingtechnology),andbecausetheyweretaking
datafromsuchalargeanddiversegroupofpeoplethatacontrolwouldbepracticallyimpossibleto
equallycompareallresults.Theexperimenttookabout1,000universitystudentvolunteersfromallover

theworld(tencountriesinoverfivecontinents),andaskedthemtogowithouttechnology,media,etc.for
afull24hours.Duringtheday,theywereaskedtoreportsuccess/failurethroughajournal.Thatjournal
wasthenanalyzedtocreateconclusionsanddatafromcertainkeywordandphrasetrends,comparisons,
etc.

Results
Thestudentswroteabouthalfamillionwordseach,showingthattheyfeltstronglyaboutthe
topicandtherealizationstheyweremaking,sotheemotionsrecordedbytheresearcherswerenottaken
lightly.Thedatacollectedfromthejournalswerecategorizedintoeightmainfeelings:addiction,
boredom,confusion,distress,failure,isolation,mediaisinescapable,andbenefitfromunplugging.Their
findingsbycountrywererepresentedinthegraphbelow.

TheUnitedStatesofAmerica,UnitedKingdom,Chile,andChinaMainlandhadprettyconsistent
resultsacrosstheboard,butcountrieslikeUgandaandArgentinahadfairlysporadicresponses.All
countriesreportedhighratesofaddiction,distress,andthebenefitsofunplugging.Wefindthis
unsurprisingbecausetheywereaddicted,andbeingcutofffromthataddictioncausesdistressatfirst,
thenbenefitbecausetheyaremostlikelybetteroffwithoutitonceandawhile.

TheimageaboveshowsagraphofonlytheUnitedStatessreactionswhichwecreatedforour
infographic.Inthisgraphalonethehighestfeelingsfeltweretheonesmentionedaboveaddiction,
distress,andbenefitsofunplugging.
Dopamineisthechemicalreleasedinthebrainthatcauseshappiness,andcanbequiteaddicting.
Wehavereasonableevidencetobelievethatthisaddictiontotechnologyisactuallyanaddictionto
dopamineandthattechnologyissimplyastimulant.Ironically,dopaminedeficiencyaremoreproneto

addictionsofallkinds.Sincethereisstillmuchtolearnaboutdopamine,thiscouldrequirefurther
research.

Discussion
Thisexperimentwasdonetotesttheeffectthattechnologyhasonourlives.Themostcommon
feelingsexpressedbysubjectswereaddiction,distress,andbenefitsofunplugging,aswellasboredom,
confusion,failure,isolation,andmediaisinescapable.
Ourhypothesis,thoughvague,wasstillquiteaccurate.Iftechnologywasremovedfromyoung
adultsforaday,thentheywouldfeelextremelossbecausemostyoungadultsareverydependentand
emotionallyconnectedtotheirphone.Extremelosswasfelt,forsure,butontheoppositehand,sowas
benefitsofunplugging.Whatsimportantisthatwearenoticingwhatishappeningtousandtryingto
breakthecycle.Technologyitselfisntbad,buttoomuchofanythingcertainlyis.
Theseresultsarequitereliabletheyarefairlyrecent(2010),andtheresearchwasconductedby
areliablesource(IMCPAfromtheUniversityofMaryland).Howeverthereisalwaysthepossibilityof
studentsnotaccuratelyortruthfullyjournalinghowtheyfelt,whattheydid,oriftheyevenmadeitforthe
full24hours.
Ifweweretodothisstudyourselves,wewouldtakefromalessbroadrangeoftestsubjects
(about20)sothatwemayhavearelevantcontrolgroup,getmorespecificresults,andhavethesubjects
onesthatwedeemhonestastogetthemostaccurateresultswecan.Simplyput,lesstestsubjectswould
makeiteasiertokeeptheexperimentundercontrol.
Tofurtherexperimentandstudytheseeffects,onecouldquitepossiblystudymoreintensivelabs
onwhythishappens,goingindepthintopsychologyandneurology.Thisstudyfocusedmoreonthe
emotionalresponse/testingside,ratherthanthepsychologicalandneurologicalsidethattriggersthose
emotions.Yes,ourwebroughtupcertainpointsfromneurologyofit,howeverwefocusedmoreonthe
emotionalsidebecausethatiswhatmattersmosttous,how
we
feel.Becausewedontanalyzeour
everythingliketheVulcando,WellIcantellthatdopaminehasjustbeenreleasedintomybraincaused
ofthestimulantsfromtechnologybecauseIamfeelinghappy,andwesimplifyitto,technologymakes
mehappy,wethoughtthattheemotionswouldbeamorerelevantandinterestinganswertousandthe
immediateaudience.

Bibliography
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TechTimeoutAcademicChallenge
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Schwartz,Katrina."WhatHappensWhenTeensTrytoDisconnectFromTechForThreeDays."
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