Calderwood, Ackerman, and Conklin (2014) set out to determine how often college students become distracted by things such as checking their text messages or listening to music, how long these distractions last, and the ratio of time spent on distractions versus concentrating on homework. Participants consisted of 60 undergraduate students who were enrolled in at least three classes—two of which had to be math and science—at the Georgia Institute of Technology. These students were incentivized with extra credit. Due to technological complications, data are only available for 58 participants (N = 58). Calderwood et al. (2014) observed participants while they were studying and doing homework for a three-hour period. They informed participants beforehand that they were allowed to bring devices such as laptops and cell phones if they desired. Participants were placed in a room with an adequate workspace that included a desk, desktop computer, printer, and boom box.
