The article ‘Technology: Myth of Multitasking’ emphasized the false perceptions about multitasking and explained the logic behind them. As indicated in the article, people desire the ability to multitask so as to become more productive and efficient. However, the author proposes that multitasking does not really exist except on two conditions. First, if one of the action or tasks is well learned hence not requiring tremendous focus or thought such as walking, eating, etc. second, if both tasks make use of different parts of the brain then they do not overlap in processing. For example, as indicated in the article, studying and listening to classical music are actions processed by different parts of the brain, therefore, they can be done simultaneously. The article also referred to what is presumed to be multitasking as serial tasking. Basically, an individual successfully switches from one task to another rapidly as opposed to the belief of doing the tasks simultaneously. Also, it emphasized how so-called multitasking is neither effective nor efficient as shifting focus from one task to …show more content…
Also, it suggests that there are other approaches to task completions depending on individual preference such as single-tasking. As indicated by the article, there is a need for further research to support the claims about multitasking. This makes me wonder if there are more factors that contribute to the ineffectiveness of multitasking aside from the conditions stated in the article. For instance, does one’s genetic play a role in one’s ability to multitask effectively. Also, I wonder why the article did not emphasize a very crucial factor for productivity which is time management. Aside from being efficient and accurate, I would believe an individual needs to make proper use of time to increase the gains of
As human beings, it is becoming more of a second nature to us to multi-task. As the world is technologically advancing more and more every day, there are becoming more distractions. Social-media is flourishing, reality TV show ratings are going up, and humans even unintentionally check their phones every two minutes. In this day of age, multi-tasking is proving to promote inefficiency rather than productivity.
In the chapter “Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era,” from The New Brain, written by Richard Restak, Restak makes some very good points on his view of multitasking and modern technology. He argues that multitasking is very inefficient and that our modern technology is making our minds weaker. Multitasking and modern technology is causing people to care too much what other people think of them, to not be able to focus on one topic, and to not be able to think for themselves.
In the article,“Multitasking is actually kind of a problem for kids and adults” by Hayley Tsukayama the author went into detail about how parents and their children view their personal media habits. One of the ways that the parents and children viewed their media habits as was feeling the need to respond to texts and notifications immediately. “More than 1,200 parents and teens surveyed, 48 percent of parents and 72 percent of teens said they felt the need to respond to texts and notifications immediately, almost guaranteeing distractions throughout the day” (Tsukayama). This article can be connected to “The Epidemic of Media Multitasking While Learning” both of the articles discussed the different factors of media multitasking among individuals. The article from The Washington Post website gave great insight on multitasking and rather it is bad for students when it comes to learning. I believe that the issue being discussed is very relevant because if students are easily distracted by technology while in their learning environment it results in them not learning
David Silverman provided four main reasons why multitasking can be a reliable source for doing many tasks at once. The first reason is multitasking can help a person collect pieces of information faster. Silverman used the example of him getting contact from a customer to make a slide, but wasn't available so his employee started on the slide. After reading his email, Silverman and his employee accomplish the slide within thirty minutes. This example shows how in a certain time a person can collect information quicker from doing another task. The second reason is multitasking can help a person from any distractions or interruptions from doing the tasks
This experimental investigation has to do with how human’s attention work. It is based on a replication of the well-known “Stroop Effect” carried out on 1935 by John Ridley Stroop. The aim of this experiment was to demonstrate how hard it is for a person’s attention to be divided in different tasks, by making the participants read a series of three stimuli which consisted of: 1) words of colors in black ink, 2) words of colors in their actual font color, and 3) color words with different ink, where the participant read the font instead of the word present. The research hypothesis supposed that selective attention is as easy to be performed visually as well as audibly. The controlled variable of the experiment were the black ink color words, while the second stimuli was considered to be experimental variable. There were two independent variables that were the color words corresponding to their color and the number of mistakes each participant made in each category. The dependent variable was the third stimuli, where the participant read its font rather than the word presented. The experiment was completed within a group of sixteen participants from an age range of 13-16 (eight girls and eight boys in total). The average time and mistakes in each variable was the following: 9.28 seconds with no mistakes, 9.53 seconds with one mistake, and 25.53 seconds and an average of two mistakes. In conclusion, the observations were that it took much more time in the last stimuli, which was the one that divided attention into two tasks. Implication findings would be the modicum amount of participants in the experiment.
Students may easily lose their attention and concentration with easy access to such incredibly rich store of information. With such new technologies as television, internet and social networks, people nowadays tend to multitask more often as they have easy access to a large amount of information. However, such easy access may sometimes be a distraction. Study “Your Brain on Computers” reports that heavy multitaskers perform up to 20% worse on most tests compared to performance of light multitaskers. Working efficiency of people, who multitask, is claimed to be significantly lower. The same is with concentration. (Crovitz 353) As a result, they are not engaged in working process. Students tend to be easily distr...
There is no such thing as multitasking. In the article by Joseph Frankel, Pigeons Can “Multitask” Better than Humans, humans and pigeons were given the exact same alternating tasks. The reaction times were compared and ultimately the pigeons came out on top (Frankel). There is analysis and considerations of brain makeup between birds and humans, which can explain the reactions times, however on a cognitive level, there is no such thing as multitasking. The article goes on to say just as no one “…fluidly text while driving, browse the web while walking, or tweet while working. While we
In the article, “Multitasking Can Make You Lose…Um…Focus,” Alina Tugend centralizes around the negative effects of multitasking. She shows that often with multitasking, people tend to lose focus, lack work quality, have an increase in stress, and in the end she gives a solution to all these problems. Tugend conveys her points by using understandable language, a clear division of subjects, and many reliable sources, making her article cogent.
People often feel as if they don’t have much time. To solve this, many people multi-task to complete several tasks at once. The definition of multitasking by most people would be, “performing two or more tasks at once,” which is generally the idea. The definition of multitasking according to Merriam-Webster is the performance of multiple tasks at one time. Multitasking often is a complex process and can use different parts of the brain, for example, a telephone operator needs to be able to talk to a client while working on the computer and that requires the occipital and temporal lobe of the brain.
Multitasking requires that a worker divides his/her time and energy on multiple tasks at the same time. As a result, the care and attention to detail is divided. The amount of focus that could be used to review one assignment is split. In an experiment, Patterson (2017) discovered that students who studied while participating in media multitasking took longer to complete tasks in their classes. This experiment addresses media multitasking in the case of students. While it is not a type of multitasking we normally consider, it does involve performing multiple tasks at one. Instead of putting all of their focus on their assignments, these students’ attention is on the assignment and on their social media. The results of the experiment prove that it when placed in scenarios where people are required to focus on multiple things, it takes more time to complete certain tasks. In this instance, media multitasking caused a decrease in performance. In another experiment, Paridon and Kaufmann (2010) made an observation when studying multitasking in the workplace, stating that people’s reaction time diminished when multiple tasks were completed at once. The believe that multitasking affects people’s performance has also been proven to be true in the workplace, as the speed of people’s production when down when required to complete multiple tasks. Performance can be determined by the speed in which a task is completed.
The world is shrinking and the networks are growing at an unprecedented rate. This is possible because of our technological advances in recent decades – especially computer and networking technologies. The Internet changed the way we connect and communicate with others; it made dissipating information as easy as clicking a button. The advent of social media coupled with the powerful mobile networks and devices have enabled us to be connected twenty four seven. But this always-on connectedness is not without its downsides, it has come to a point it’s being counterproductive. Two essays, Sherry Turkle’s “The Flight from Conversation” and Claudia Wallis’s “The Multitasking Generation” in the text “Reading Critically, Writing Well”, shed light on how these technological advancements are affecting us wholesomely - the way we communicate, the way we perceive our identities and the way we live our lives.
Technology has always been improving over the decades, and now it has improved to the point where it’s a part of a human being’s life. People can’t imagine living without technology anymore nowadays, and especially college students who are always on their phones and laptops during lectures. That leads to what is known as multitasking, which is the ability to take care of more than one task at the same time. Multitasking has been popularized by students, and specifically college students, who think that they are actually successful at doing it. Unfortunately, according to Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier, after testing students who think they are brilliant at multitasking, results showed that they are terrible at every aspect of multitasking; consequently, it is not successful.
The danger with multitasking is that from the outside it looks like a productive way to accomplish tasks. When we see someone watching their favorite TV show while doing homework, or sending emails while in a work meeting we envy them for being able to get so much done at one time. Assistant professor of communications at Ohio state university, Zhen Wang, says “[people who multitask] are not being more productive they just feel more emotionally satisfied from their work” (What multitasking does to our brains). When we are doing multiple tasks at once we feel like we are accomplishing a lot, but when we look back we realize that nothing really was achieved. With all the technology now-a-days multitasking is becoming easier and easier. Most new computers have a split screen feature where you can jump back and forth between pages, making switching from task to task as easy as clicking a button. With everything becoming so fast paced, society as a whole has grown impatient. Juggling multiple tasks keeps us from sitting around and waiting for one thing to
The presence of accumulated stress and heavy work load on the brain automatically bring about the student or the employee inability to multitask; knowing fully well that multitasking is one essential key to excellence.
What really is multitasking? There is a substantial amount of information on how the brain multitasks. And basically, it doesn’t. A person may see a teenage girl writing a text message, drinking coffee, and doing homework all at the same time, and think the girl is multitasking. People do not understand the true concept of what multitasking is. They are under the illusion they can do things simultaneously while they work, and think they are paying attention to everything around them, when they aren’t. What’s really going on is people’s brains are, they switching back and forth from task to task rather than doing it all at once. The brain is doing more than one task, but by ordering them and deciding which one to do at any one time. People will question of how others easily walk dow...