Smartphone Usage as a Behavior Modification: Treatment Phase
Desiree Mosher
Liberty University
PSYC 320: Behavior Modification, L28999529
Professor Lynnette Shadoan
October 3rd, 2022
Target Behavior
The behavior being observed during this study is smartphone usage. This consists of the
intentional picking-up of a smartphone to engage in messaging, social media, or entertainment.
“The average American adult uses their phone around four to five hours every day” (Smith &
Woods, 2021). Any amount over this average can be considered excessive. “A behavior excess is
an undesirable target behavior the person wants to decrease in frequency, duration, or intensity”
(Miltenberger, 2015).
Smartphones have become crucial in everyday life worldwide, affecting all business, research,
and social sectors. Smartphone use is ever increasing, with usage in some countries reaching
90% and usage in most Western countries reaching more than half the population. Also, adults'
smartphone usage reaches over 93% in South Korea. Despite the many advantages that
smartphones provide to our daily lives, concerns related to problematic smartphone use have
been increasing. Considering the advancement of Fourth Generation Mobile Communication
Systems (4G) and Fifth Generation Mobile Communication Systems (5G) communication
methods, smartphone usage is expected to increase even further.
The problem is that excessive smartphone use may lead to problematic smartphone use behavior.
Problematic smartphone use is referred to as excessive smartphone use, which related with
substance use disorder. Meanwhile, according to ICD-11 or DSM-5, problematic smartphone use
is yet defined as an addiction. Therefore, in this study, we use “Problematic Smartphone Use”
instead of “Smartphone Addiction.” The term “problematic smartphone use” was used in a recent
study of smartphone use types of psychiatric symptoms. According to a recent study by Chen et
al., problematic smartphone use can be divided into two categories in the field of Internet
addiction: general problematic smartphone use and specific problematic smartphone use. General
problematic smartphone use indicates general behavioral patterns of excessive smartphone use,
which may have negative consequences to the individuals. Specific problematic smartphone use
indicates the use of smartphones that are problematic for certain types of smartphone activities
(e.g., games, social networking service, etc.). Prior research suggests that problematic
smartphone use is associated with depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and
impulsiveness.
Internet of Things (IoT) is widely applied in many fields, most notably in healthcare. Applied
IoT in the medical field is called the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). The smartphone
application (App) used in our research performs the function of IoMT, which makes it easier to
collect and manage health data. In this regard, by adopting the IoMT, we were able to able to
