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Multitasking a bad habit
Positive effects of multitasking
Multitasking a bad habit
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It seems like, at least in recent years, brain research has become a hot topic in scientific explorations, especially multi-tasking. Multi-tasking has become more and more significant in modern life because living in a fast-paced world because people have to accomplish all the tasks they required to do within a limited time interval. Under such stressful life, it seems like multi-tasking is always beneficial if people have to find out ways to fulfill all their tasks. However, can multi-tasking always rescue us from tons of assignments that we are assigned to finish? Unfortunately, according to some results from several authoritative methodical researches, efficiency cannot always be guaranteed by multi-tasking and sometimes multi-tasking can even adversely influence people’s productivity on their tasks.
At this point, we may wonder that why sometimes multi-tasking can negatively influence people’s plans. To obtain the answer to this question, we have to take a look at how multi-tasking is functioned by our brain systems. Several researches were conducted to study this and as one of the pioneers, UCLA psychological department has acquired some achievements on this subject. In an article named Multi-tasking Adversely Affects Brain’s Learning, UCLA Psychologists Report, UCLA specialists showed the fact using one experiment. The experiment was conducted by “functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI)” () in order to show brain exercise. During the experiment, participants were asked to make predictions about the shapes of cards. The cards were divided into two different groups. With one set of cards, they learned without interruption while with another set of cards, they performed multi-tasking, which refers to listening to annoyi...
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...operation of different parts of our brains while we can be hurt by it if we lose our concentration on our assignments or over use technology in our studies. Nonetheless, our own attitudes toward multi-tasking decide what role it plays in our own lives. What we should do to raise efficiency from multi-tasking is learn to determine when is the right time to use it with the help of various results from scientific researches and find out our own methods to avoid the shortcomings of multi-tasking. Don’t always say no to it. It definitely can help people if they are put at the right place.
Works Cited
Lewin,Tarrar. “If Your Kids Are Awake, They’re Probably On Line.” NewYork Times.
20 January 2010. Web. April 12, 2014.
UCLA. “Multi-tasking Adversely Affects Brain’s Learning, UCLA Psychologists Report.” Science daily. 26 July. 2006.Web. April 12, 2009.
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.
Many would remark that multitasking is a skill that can be trained like all others. However, a lot of neuroscience has went into proving that multitasking is a myth altogether. The article “The Myth of Multitasking” is written by Nancy K. Napier for Psychology today is here to debunk the myth of the brain’s capability to multitask. The article states that the brain is incapable of doing two things at once. Instead, the way that we fool ourselves into thinking that we can multitask is how quickly our brain switches from one task to another. Our brains can’t perform tasks simultaneously as our focus is a narrow beam. So, to compensate for this, our brain switches between these two tasks very quickly, almost as if we are doing them at the same
How does the left brain and the right brain impact learning? It’s simple, it works together to get an equal connection through the corpus callosum to function our bodies . The brain is a wonderful organ. It’s the motherboard in our bodies, it organizes everything. It controls our thoughts, our actions and our commands. In this paper, I will be talking about how the brain impacts learning from both side if it and the functions each side has to offer.
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...
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.
Performing well in at certain tasks and retaining information both require a high level of attention. Multitasking requires that this attention be divided amongst different tasks. As a result, the some of the attention used for a certain task must now be used for other tasks, which affects the factors needed to complete it. Referring to an experiment that was discussed earlier, Wieth and Burns (2014) stated that even with the reward, the promise of incentive could not override the limits of people’s attention. Retaining information requires undivided attention. The key word is ‘undivided.’ According to this experiment, it is nearly impossible to have the same high level of focus while working on multiple tasks that a person would while working on one task. Once someone has reached the end of their attention span, their performance begins to falter. In a final experiment involving media multitasking and attention, Ralph, Thomson, Cheyne, and Smilek (2014) stated that multitasking can lead to mind wandering and lapses in attention, which distracts people from their tasks. These results show that once their attention is divided, it can lead to distractions and difficulty completing different tasks. It is difficult to complete one assignment while focusing on several others at the same time. Multitasking affects the attention needed for a task, which can affect everything
Today we live in a society where everything is seconds away from us. With the advances and affordability of quality technology, you would be hard pressed to find someone without a smartphone, laptop, or tablet, possibly all at the same time. Because of the accessibility we find that, in our tech-savvy culture, multitasking has not just become an art form of sorts, but rather an expectation. In the article “Multitasking Can Make You Lose…Um…Focus,” Alina Tugend sets out to explore the idea that although multitasking appears to show productivity, it could be doing the opposite. Throughout her article, Tugend uses studies done by neurologists and psychologists to show how in a world that sees multitasking as an expectation it has actually made us less efficient. She proposes, through studies, that although you might be working on multiple tasks it is as if you’re playing tennis with multiple balls (Tugend, 725).
Hello everybody, I would like to talk to you about a disability that we are all born with. Although in the time when our ancestors were scantily clad and running around to catch a meal or avoid being one, this disability came in handy. However, now it dominates the way we act and think throughout most of our lives. (By a show of hands how many of you think you’re in control of what you do? Now raise your hand if you think you’re good at multitasking) I’m surprised to have seen these kind of results. The reason why is because when it comes to thinking or completing a task, it's always action, action, action. Except that’s the problem because that's all we’re doing and we’re never taking a brief pause to formulate an effective plan. So now in our age of information our brains are constantly at work because they’re constantly being bombarded by so much
Multitasking is something that I constantly do, but am not very good at. As I am typing this there is an episode of Unsolved Mysteries that I am supposedly watching, the phone is right next to me so I can check the news, in what I know will be about two minutes, and my dog is bringing me his ball to play fetch with him. I am terrible at concentrating on one thing alone, but that does not mean I do not pay attention to each thing individually. Of course, I will not remember what this specific episode of the show is about, but I know this response will be exactly as I want it to be, as I will read it over once I am done. Is this efficient? Or has it helped me complete tasks to the best of my ability? I do not think I can truly know if the tasks I complete are to the best of my ability, but if my GPA and grades are a direct product of my ability to multitask, then I would say I do rather well.
According to The Dangers of Multitasking, the downsides of multitasking outweigh its upsides (Davies 39). Multitasking students can miss many necessary information that they really need to pass tests and understand lessons when they multitask during the lectures, which causes them to get a low grade on their tests. “Many experienced multitaskers have experienced an unexpected thing when, for example, their e-mail service was disabled for a period of time. They discovered that they were actually more productive during that period of time” (Multitasking 758). That means that multitaskers are more productive when they concentrate on one task; so students will do better on tests and in school in general, if they quit or cut back on multitasking during classes. Moreover, “The human brain works more efficiently on a single task and for sustained rather than intermitted or alternating periods of time” (Multitasking 758). So, this does not mean...
Strayer, D. L., & Watson, J. M. (2012). Supertaskers and the multitasking brain. Scientific American Mind, 23(1), 22-29.
Gluck, M. A., Mercado, E., & Myers, C. E. (2014). Learning and memory: From brain to behavior (2nd ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.
Multitasking with non-course material results in a student’s attention being diverted from the course material that is being taught. This can result in errors in memory for the student and also a more difficult time learning the information outside of the classroom (Kraushaar & Novak, 2010, p.1). The University of Vermont completed a study in order to determine the impacts of multitasking with a laptop during a university lecture. Through the experiment they were able to determine that “students with a high [and long] frequency of software multitasking during lectures will exhibit lower academic performance than students with a low [and short] frequency of software multitasking” (Kraushaar & Novak, 2010, p.6). This shows that repeated and lengthy multitasking with technology in particular laptops during lecture times can cause extremely negative results in a students academic performances and
While it may be true that some forms of technology can negatively affect one’s ability to stay attentive through long periods of time, it is not true in the case of action videogames (Eichenbaum 10). The article “Video Games: Play That Can Do Serious Good” defines executive control as the “ability to select and manage multiple cognitive processes, such as attention, memory, and planning” (Eichenbaum 11). When playing a videogame, one has to keep track of several items at once; for example, in the medieval action based game Skyrim, one must keep track of his or her health, stamina, magica, and enchantment bars, as well as his or her enemies’ health bar. Because most all action games require the rigorous use of one’s multitasking skills, over time, these skills would be highly
Pashler,H.(1990) Graded Capacity-Sharing in Dual-Task Interference?. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1994, Vol. 20, No. 2. 330-342