Publication Date
Spring 4-22-2026
College
College of Sciences & Mathematics
Department
Psychological Sciences and Neurosciences, Department of
Faculty Mentor
Michael Oliver
Metadata/Fulltext
Metadata ONLY
Presentation Type
Talk/Oral
Summary
Locus of Control, defined as “...individuals' beliefs about the degree of control they have over events in their lives,” has long been associated with task performance, specifically in both compliant and initiative domains (Blau, 1993; Galvin et al., 2018). Existing literature on task performance suggests that, aside from Locus of Control, noise distractions play a significant role in individuals' ability to focus and concentrate (Jafari et al., 2019). In academic contexts, research indicates that noise disturbances and subsequent inability to concentrate impede an individual's task performance by reducing reading comprehension and textual processing (Foroughi et al., 2015). As such, the purpose of the present study was to investigate whether locus of control influences reading comprehension accuracy in adults aged 18 years and older in technologically distracting environments. It was hypothesized that a significant positive relationship would exist between internal locus of control and reading comprehension accuracy in the presence of smartphone notification distractions. To conduct this study, all participants completed a 15-minute reading comprehension test, followed by a locus of control assessment. During the 15-minute reading comprehension segment of their assessment, all participants heard phone notifications at varying intervals. Pearson’s correlation and simple linear regression analyses were used to investigate the relationships between locus of control and reading comprehension accuracy. If supported by significant results, this study and its hypotheses could provide important insights into academic performance—the conditions and technological interferences that affect students’ aptitude, success, and knowledge acquisition.
Recommended Citation
Visner, Katherine; Fritts, Sarah M.; Laskey, Audrey; and Giraud, Chloe, "The Impact of Smartphone Notifications and Locus of Control on Reading Comprehension" (2026). SPARK Symposium Presentations. 912.
https://repository.belmont.edu/spark_presentations/912
