In a report for the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, experts said the results backed the findings of lab experiments. They wrote: "We found that individuals walking while talking on a cell phone displayed inattentional blindness in a real-world situation. "Even a task as practiced as walking can be disrupted by cell phone conversations. Although walking and talking on a cell phone on campus seems unlikely to be particularly hazardous, it can cause problems. A cell phone user walking slower and changing directions complicates the navigation task for everyone else." Professor Hyman added: "Cell phone use causes people to be oblivious to their surroundings while engaged in even a simple task such as walking. "Cell phone users walk more slowly, change directions and weave more often - and fail to notice interesting and novel objects. The effect appears to be caused by the distraction of a cell phone conversation, because people walking in pairs did not display the same range of problems. Something about the conversation seems to limit attentional capacity. "If people experience so much difficulty performing the task of walking when they're on a cell phone, just think what this means when put into the context of driving safety. People should not drive while talking on a cell phone."
Professor Hyman added: "Cell phone use causes people to be oblivious to their surroundings while engaged in even a simple task such as walking.
"Cell phone users walk more slowly, change directions and weave more often - and fail to notice interesting and novel objects. The effect appears to be caused by the distraction of a cell phone conversation, because people walking in pairs did not display the same range of problems. Something about the conversation seems to limit attentional capacity.
"If people experience so much difficulty performing the task of walking when they're on a cell phone, just think what this means when put into the context of driving safety. People should not drive while talking on a cell phone."
