Letter from Fred Davis

Letter concerning a copy of the catalogue for Utah Agricultural College

Self-Regulation, Mind Wandering, and Cognitive Absorption During Technology Use

Interaction with technology involves not only externally directed cognition, but also internally directed cognition. Although the information systems (IS) field has made a significant progress toward understanding of how individuals use technology, more emphasis has been given to goal-directed external activity that requires focused external attention and less or no emphasis on goal-directed internal activity called mind wandering. Drawing upon the emerging cognitive neuroscience literature, the current research investigates the relationships between self-regulation, mind wandering, and cognitive absorption. Specifically, we hypothesize there is a U-shape relationship between mind wandering and cognitive absorption. Based on a cross-sectional study of 323 individuals, the results reveal that the relationship between mind wandering and cognitive absorption is curve-linear. As mind wandering increases, cognitive absorption decreases to a certain point, after which, cognitive absorption increases as mind wandering increases. The results also show self-regulation has a significant effect on mind wandering and cognitive absorption

Musical Habits and Smartphone Addiction: Mediating Role of Self-control

Smartphone overuse has led to many issues, one of which is smartphone addiction. At the same time, musical habits including (1) music listening, and (2) music playing and creating are becoming increasingly popular. Built on the theories of habit and self-control, the purpose of study was to examine how these two musical habits influence smartphone addiction. We found that self-control served as a mediator of the relationships between these musical habits and smartphone addiction. Our results also showed that the interaction between musical listening habit and musical preference positively affected self-control, while music playing and creating habit negatively affected it. This study has both theoretical and practical contributions to preventing and/or reducing smartphone addiction