ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Many people check their cellphones without thinking about it, and the habit represents a type of automatic behavior, or automaticity, U.S. researchers say.
Lead author Joseph Bayer, a doctoral student in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan, said automaticity, which was the key variable in the study, is triggered by situational cues and lacks control, awareness, intention and attention.