Name: Ian Silfverlin

Date: 18/3/24
Is Attention Span Affected By Social Media?
Background Information, or Introduction:

The tachistoscope is a device used in psychological experiments to present visual stimuli for very
short periods, typically a few milliseconds to a few seconds. This method has been widely used
to study perception, memory, and attention.

In this experiment, the experimenter will replicate this experiment by presenting stimuli to
students in two classrooms: grade 8 (14-15 years old) and grade 9 (16-17 years old). The
presentation consists of alternating 10-second intervals of an empty brown background and 1/10-
second flashes of images containing either words or sets of three random characters.

The purpose of this experiment is to measure the attention span and recall ability of students.
During the 10-second brown background intervals, the brain has time to reset before the next
stimulus. When the image with characters is flashed for 1/10 second, students must quickly
process and remember the visual information.

After each stimulus, students will write down what they recall. The experimenter will then
collect and analyze the responses to determine the accuracy and completeness of the recall.

To avoid any inexactitudes, the experiment will be considering variables, such as drug use, sleep,
sport, hobbies, etc.

By comparing the recall rates between the two age groups and analyzing the difference in recall
between words and random characters, the experimenter can assess the impact of brief exposure
on memory retention. This experiment provides valuable insights into how attention span and
memory recall develop with age and how different types of visual stimuli are processed and
remembered by adolescents, which will be measured in correlation to their amount of time spent
in social media.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/tachistoscope

Research Question (aim or problem):

How does social media affect your attention span? Measured by the number of correct answers
in a tachistoscope-like experiment (instead performed as a video with the words shown in a span
of 0.1 s and 10 s in between the words)
Hypothesis:

H1 Alternative hypothesis: Social media does affect your attention span, the longer the
time you spend on social media the shorter the attention span will be
 H0 Null hypothesis: Social media has no relation with attention span, the attention span
will be the same no matter the time spent on social media

Table 1: Variables Selected for this Experiment

Units Range
Independent Variable Hours on Social Media Hours (h) 0-24
Dependent Variable Amount of correct Quantity of correct 0-20
answers answers(n)

Control Variables Units Possible effect on results

Sleep Hours (h) Below necessary sleep (varies from person to
person but of less than 7 hours in the average
person) can lead to slower reaction time,
changing and lowering the accuracy our test
gives us.
Social Media Content Type (eg. stories, Different content apports differently to brain
online classes, etc) development, from memes (internet jokes) where
the person will get pleasure of the jokes quick,
decreasing the attention time they need to give to
the source to get the pleasure they want,
lowering the attention span in the long term; to
youtube classes where the person can further
develop their attention span increasing it due to
necessary wait to get the desired pleasure.
Drug use Type (eg. caffeine) Stimulants can affect our focus, changing the
accuracy of our experiment, drugs like caffeine
(found in coffee), block the receptors of
adenosine molecules (which make us sleepy).
Overuse of coffee can cause a buildup of
adenosine in the bloodstream, causing the person
to be sleepy, considerably reducing their
attention span.
Age Number (14-17) Younger humans are more reactant to stimuli, a
factor which can alter the accuracy of our
experiment.
Medical Conditions Type (eg. ADHD) Different medical conditions can affect the
attention span of the condition, affecting the
possible result of our experiment.

Methodology (procedure):
This experiment’s procedure was divided into x steps.
1) Preparation of presentation - the first step into performing this experiment is to prepare
the presentation, which consists of intervals of a 10s empty screen with brown
background and 1/10 of an image containing the combination of characters. There will be
a total of 40 slides shown, 20 being empty, 10 containing a combination of characters
showing a word, and 10 showing a combination of 3 random characters.
2) Preparation of the form - the second step of the experiment is to prepare a form to
obtain the information about the variables mentioned in the background information
(drug use, sleep, screen time, etc), this form will consist on the following variables, each
with a response domain of 0-10 (except the ones that can only be answered with yes or
no, for example the variable questioning if the subject is class 8 or 9). Variables are:
- Biological gender
- Previous sleep
- Class
- Caffeine consumption
- Sugar consumption
- Social media screen time
- Video games screentime
- Exercise time
- Medical diagnosis(ADD, ADHD)
- Ocular problems (myopia)
- Learning disabilities (dyslexia, dyscalculia)
- 20 spaces, one for each of the answers shown in the presentation
3) Presentation to the students - the third step of the experiment is to present the
participants with the previously made presentation, in which the 20 combinations shown
must be written down in the form.
4) Analysis of the results - the fourth and last step of this experiment is to collect all results
of the form, and analyze the results for the aim of the experiment, in this case, the relation
between social media screen time and attention span.

Safety, ethical or environmental issues:

This experiment’s data collection will be digital, and given that the participants are students in a
class without any imponent or possible danger for contributing in this experiment, the safety and
environmental issues are controlled so they have 0 possible negative impact on the
environment. As for ethical concerns, the participants will remain anonymous showing only the
answers they chose, eliminating any possible inconveniences for them.

Analysis
Raw Data

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/
10cflazPwnv9woRan0O3Kuhs3OtHjck7sYDv_wy_4tos/edit#gid=171660831
Too much information and tables for a google document, all raw information used in this
experiment is stored in the google sheet shared on that link

Processing Raw Data

Table 1)

Table 2
Concluding

States a conclusion, with justification, based on a reasonable interpretation of the data.

a. The relationship between the variables is correctly stated.
b. Students must justify their conclusion and note any systematic or unforeseen random
uncertainties (anomalies).
c. Connects to the research question, and hypothesis.

EVALUATION

Strengths and Weaknesses

Improving the Investigation

Bibliography

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/tachistoscope