Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts

Major

Psychology

Date of Defense

7-19-2022

Graduate Advisor

Carissa Philippi

Committee

Bettina Casad

Hannah White

Abstract

Research on Social Networking Sites (SNS) has shown a variety of both beneficial and detrimental psychological and cognitive outcomes associated with high frequency usage. We conducted an online study consisting of a series of questionnaires and a working memory task to explore the relationship between Instagram use intensity and cognition. The present study first investigated the relationship between Instagram (IG) use intensity, rumination, and cognitive failures. We randomly assigned participants into a selfie-posting, selfie-sending, or likes/comments reporting condition to determine whether selfie-posting behavior affects working memory performance. While we did not find significant associations between IG use intensity, rumination, and cognitive failures, we conducted a series of ANCOVAs to assess working memory task performance and found a trend-level significant effect of experimental condition on one measure of accuracy (d’), showing an improved performance for the IG Post condition in comparison to Selfie and Report condition. No significant differences were found on reaction time for correct responses. Instagram use intensity was included in a moderation analysis, yielding a significant interaction showing faster reaction times for those in the Selfie condition and marginally faster times for the Report condition in comparison to IG Post condition at higher levels of IG use intensity. Rumination was also included in a moderation analysis, yielding a significant interaction demonstrating faster reaction times for those in the Report condition compared to IG Post condition at higher levels of rumination. These findings are discussed in the context of previous research and experimental limitations encountered in online recruitment.

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