Investigating the influence of distractions whilst engaging in social media – an EEG project

The current study aims to take a closer look at the social media app TikTok and its potential influence on attentional processes as a representative of all social media apps with a similar interface. It features a “never ending scroll” as its main feed where users encounter a wide variety of topics which makes it ideal for the experimental setting. The goal of the study is to investigate how distractors are processed when engaging with social media. This was assessed by visual targets along with tactile and visual cues presented during the trials as well as EEG data collected throughout. During the experiment, all participants will have different blocks where they will have a social media engagement section as well as a section where they will not engage with social media. During each condition, they will sometimes be asked to respond to targets, other times they will not be asked to respond. Their performances will be analyzed with a within-subjects approach. It is expected that when participants engage with social media, they will not perceive the cues as well. Though the existing literature does not feature neurological studies centered on social media, other similar topics such as Lavie’s (1995) perceptual load theory provide enough framework from which to base expectations off. It was expected that the two conditions of varied perceptual load will interact with cue perception. However, though there were main effects for the two factors, there were ultimately no observed interaction effects. Despite that, the data does support that social media is equivalent to high perceptual load and that engaging with it could impact somatosensory processing, as well as support the idea that the perceptual load theory applies cross-modally. Social media is a growing area of interest in publication due to its increasing presence in society. As it is a relatively new phenomenon, it warrants scientific interest to analyze the ways it may be modulating attention, if at all. The exploratory analysis concerned with long-term social media usage reveals some potential long-lasting effects, specifically in relation to the tactile cue, and also provides a clear direction moving forward with future studies.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

MSc by Research

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Masters thesis

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Middlesex University

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Chacon Lopez, J.

Identifier

oai:repository.mdx.ac.uk:2x154y

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.mdx.ac.uk:2x154y