Have you ever experienced a phantom phone call or text?

You're convinced that you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket, or that you heard your ring tone.

But when you check your phone, no one actually tried to get in touch with you.

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You're convinced that you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket, or that you heard your ring tone. But when you check your phone, no one actually tried to get in touch with you

PHONE VIBRATIONS A team the University of Michigan found over 80% of college students experience phantom phone calls or texts more than once a day. Researches administered an online survey to over 750 undergraduate students. Those who scored higher on cellphone dependency – they more often used their phones to make themselves feel better, became irritable when they couldn't use their phones and thought about using their phone when they weren't on it – had more frequent phantom phone experiences. Advertisement

You then might plausibly wonder: 'Is my phone acting up, or is it me?'

Well, it's probably you, and it could be a sign of just how attached you've become to your phone.

At least you're not alone.

Over 80 percent of college students we surveyed have experienced it.

However, if it's happening a lot – more than once a day – it could be a sign that you're psychologically dependent on your cellphone.

There's no question that cellphones are part of the social fabric in many parts of the world, and some people spend hours each day on their phones.

Our research team recently found that most people will fill their downtime by fiddling with their phones.

Others even do so in the middle of a conversation.

And most people will check their phones within 10 seconds of getting in line for coffee or arriving at a destination.

Clinicians and researchers still debate whether excessive use of cellphones or other technology can constitute an addiction.

Over 80 percent of college students surveyed in a recent study have experienced it. However, if it's happening a lot – more than once a day – it could be a sign that you're psychologically dependent on your cellphone

It wasn't included in the latest update to the DSM-5, the American Psychiatric Association's definitive guide for classifying and diagnosing mental disorders.

But given the ongoing debate, we decided to see if phantom buzzes and rings could shed some light on the issue.

Addictions are pathological conditions in which people compulsively seek rewarding stimuli, despite the negative consequences.

We often hear reports about how cellphone use can be problematic for relationships and for developing effective social skills.

PERSONALITY SURVEY The University of Michigan conducted a study to understand if phone addiction is linked to phantom vibrations. During the study, participants were given the Ten Item Personality Inventory survey, which analyzes personality characteristics such as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability or neuroticism. 1 = Disagree strongly 2 = Disagree moderately 3 = Disagree a little 4 = Neither agree nor disagree 5 = Agree a little 6 = Agree moderately 7 = Agree strongly I see myself as: 1. _____ Extraverted, enthusiastic. 2. _____ Critical, quarrelsome. 3. _____ Dependable, self-disciplined. 4. _____ Anxious, easily upset. 5. _____ Open to new experiences, complex. 6. _____ Reserved, quiet. 7. _____ Sympathetic, warm. 8. _____ Disorganized, careless. 9. _____ Calm, emotionally stable. 10. _____ Conventional, uncreative. Using this survey, reports about phantom vibration experiences and the Mobile Phone Problem Use scale, the researchers determined that those who scored as more conscientious and emotionally stable had lower phone dependency symptoms. Women also reported higher phone dependency symptoms. Advertisement

One of the features of addictions is that people become hypersensitive to cues related to the rewards they are craving.

Whatever it is, they start to see it everywhere.

(I had a college roommate who once thought that he saw a bee's nest made out of cigarette butts hanging from the ceiling.)

So might people who crave the messages and notifications from their virtual social worlds do the same?

Would they mistakenly interpret something they hear as a ring tone, their phone rubbing in their pocket as a vibrating alert or even think they see a notification on their phone screen – when, in reality, nothing is there?

NINE IN 10 FEEL PHANTOM VIBRATIONS

Scientists believe that we are so alert for phone calls and messages we are misinterpreting slight muscle spasms as proof of a call. Robert Rosenberger, an assistant professor at the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology has studied the delusional calls. He said sufferers describe a vague tingling feeling which they think is their mobile phone indicating it has received a text message or call while on ‘silent’. But when the device is retrieved, there was no one on the other end. Dr Rosenberger said ‘I find so many people say, “This happens to me, but I thought I was the only one, I thought I was weird.’ It seems that the syndrome particularly affects people at the beck and call of mobile phones or pagers. A 2010 study by Michael Rothberg and colleagues found that nearly 70 percent of doctors at a hospital in Massachusetts suffered phantom vibrations. A more recent study of US college students found the figure was as high as 90 percent. Advertisement

We decided to find out.

From a tested survey measure of problematic cellphone use, we pulled out items assessing psychological cellphone dependency.

We also created questions about the frequency of experiencing phantom ringing, vibrations and notifications.

We then administered an online survey to over 750 undergraduate students.

Those who scored higher on cellphone dependency – they more often used their phones to make themselves feel better, became irritable when they couldn't use their phones and thought about using their phone when they weren't on it – had more frequent phantom phone experiences.

Cellphone manufacturers and phone service providers have assured us that phantom phone experiences are not a problem with the technology.

As HAL 9000 might say, they are a product of 'human error.'

Those who scored higher on cellphone dependency – they more often used their phones to make themselves feel better, became irritable when they couldn't use their phones and thought about using their phone when they weren't on it – had more frequent phantom phone experiences

So where, exactly, have we erred? We are in a brave new world of virtual socialization, and the psychological and social sciences can barely keep up with advances in the technology.

Phantom phone experiences may seem like a relatively small concern in our electronically connected age.

But they raise the specter of how reliant we are on our phones – and how much influence phones have in our social lives.

How can we navigate the use of cellphones to maximize the benefits and minimize the hazards, whether it's improving our own mental health or honing our live social skills?

What other new technologies will change how we interact with others?

Our minds will continue to buzz with anticipation.