Dr. Rosen’s lab spearheaded by Dr. Nancy Cheever investigated the role that technology use—or, rather, lack of use—has on anxiety.51 One hundred sixty three college students were brought into a lecture hall, with half being told to turn off their phone and store it and all other materials under their seat while remaining quiet and simply doing nothing. The other half of the students were given the same general instructions about storing materials out of sight and doing nothing, but they had their smartphones taken away and replaced with a claim check for later retrieval.
