Abstract
Our ability to multitask—focus on multiple tasks simultaneously—is one of the most critical functions of our cognitive system. This capability has shown to have relations to cognition and personality in empirical studies, which have received much attention recently. This review article integrates the available findings to examine how individual differences in multitasking behavior are linked with different cognitive constructs and personality traits to conceptualize what multitasking behavior represents. In this review, we highlight the methodological differences and theoretical conceptions. Cognitive constructs including executive functions (i.e., shifting, updating, and inhibition), working memory, relational integration, divided attention, reasoning, and prospective memory were investigated. Concerning personality, the traits of polychronicity, impulsivity, and the five-factor model were considered. A total of 43 studies met the inclusion criteria and entered the review. The research synthesis directs us to propose two new conceptual models to explain multitasking behavior as a psychometric construct. The first model demonstrates that individual differences in multitasking behavior can be explained by cognitive abilities. The second model proposes that personality traits constitute a moderating effect on the relation between multitasking behavior and cognition. Finally, we provide possible future directions for the line of research.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of data and material
Data is added as supplementary file.
Code availability
Code is available on request.
References
References marked with an asterisk (*) indicate a study included in the review
Ahmed, A. M., Richard, T., Dorota, F., & Błażej, M. (2017). Impulsivity and its relationship with anxiety, depression and stress. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 74, 173–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2017.01.013
Akobeng, A. (2005). Principles of evidence based medicine. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 90(8), 837–840. https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2005.071761
Altmann, E. M., & Gray, W. D. (2008). An integrated model of cognitive control in task switching. Psychological Review, 115(3), 602–639. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.115.3.602
Alzahabi, R., & Becker, M. W. (2013). The association between media multitasking, task switching, and dual-task performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 39(5), 1485–1495. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031208
Ayhan, U., & Turkyilmaz, U. (2015). The use of meta-cognitive strategies and personality traits among Bosnian university students. International Journal of Education, 5(2), 40–40.
*Bai, H., Jones, W. E., Moss, J., & Doane, S. M. (2014). Relating individual differences in cognitive ability and strategy consistency to interruption recovery during multitasking. Learning and Individual Differences, 35, 22–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2014.07.002
Barratt, E. (1994). Impulsiveness and aggression. University of Chicago.
Beede, K., & Kass, S. (2006). Engrossed in conversation: The impact of cell phones on simulated driving performance. Accident, Analysis and Prevention, 38(2), 415–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2005.10.015
Bisiacchi, P. S., Schiff, S., Ciccola, A., & Kliegel, M. (2009). The role of dual-task and task-switch in prospective memory: Behavioural data and neural correlates. Neuropsychologia, 47(5), 1362–1373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.01.034
Bland, J. M. (2009). The tyranny of power is there a better way to calculate sample. BMJ, 209, 339. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b3985
Bogg, T., & Roberts, B. W. (2013). Duel or diversion? Conscientiousness and executive function in the prediction of health and longevity. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 45, 400–401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-013-9468-8
Bratfisch, O., & Hagman, E. (2011). Manual simultaneous capacity/multi-tasking (SIMKAP). Schuhfried Gmbh.
*Bühner, M., König, C. J., Pick, M., & Krumm, S. (2006). Working memory dimensions as differential predictors of the speed and error aspect of multitasking performance. Human Performance, 19(3), 253–275. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327043hup1903_4
Bühner, M., Krumm, S., & Pick, M. (2005). Reasoning = working memory ≠ attention. Intelligence, 33(3), 251–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2005.01.002
Burgess, P. W. (2000). Real-world multitasking from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. In S. Monsell & J. Driver (Eds.), Control of cognitive processes: Attention and performance XVIII (pp. 465–472). MIT Press.
Burgess, P. W., Veitch, E., de Lacy Costello, A., & Shallice, T. (2000). The cognitive and neuroanatomical correlates of multitasking. Neuropsychologia, 38(6), 848–863. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0028-3932(99)00134-7
Cardoso-Leite, P., Green, S. C., & Bavelier, D. (2015). On the impact of new technologies on multitasking. Developmental Review, 35, 98–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2014.12.001
Carrier, L. M., Cheever, N. A., Rosen, L. D., Benitez, S., & Chang, J. (2009). Multitasking across generations: Multitasking choices and difficulty ratings in three generations of Americans. Computers in Human Behavior, 25(2), 483–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2008.10.012
Cattell, H. E. P., & Mead, A. D. (2008). The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). In G. J. Boyle, G. Matthews, & D. H. Saklofske (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment: Volume 2—Personality measurement and testing (pp. 135–159). Sage Publications Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849200479.n7
Cattell, R. B. (1947). Confirmation and clarification of primary personality factors. Psychometrika, 12, 197–220. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02289253
*Chang, Y. H., Liu, D. C., Chen, Y. Q., & Hsieh, S. (2017). The relationship between online game experience and multitasking ability in a virtual environment. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 31(6), 653–661. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3368
Chaplin, W. F. (2007). Moderator and mediator models in personality research: A basic introduction. In R. W. Robins, R. C. Fraley, & R. F. Krueger (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in personality psychology (pp. 602–631). The Guildford Press.
Cheung, A., Cheung, E. N., & Halperin, J. (2004). The relationship of behavioral inhibition to executive functions in young adults. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 26(3), 393–404. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803390490510103
Chuderski, A. (2014). The relational integration task explains fluid reasoning above and beyond other working memory tasks. Memory and Cognition, 42(3), 448–463. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-013-0366-x
*Colom, R., Martínez-Molina, A., Shih, P. C., & Santacreu, J. (2010). Intelligence, working memory, and multitasking performance. Intelligence, 38(6), 543–551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2010.08.002
Conway, A. R. A., Kane, M. J., Bunting, M. F., Hambrick, D. Z., Wilhelm, O., & Engle, R. W. (2005). Working memory span tasks: A methodological review and user’s guide. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 769–786. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196772
Cooper, D., & Dougherty, D. (2001). Control station: An interactive simulator for process control education. International Journal of Engineering Education, 17(3), 276–287.
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: The NEO Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 4(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.5
Cotte, J., & Ratneshwar, S. (1999). Juggling and hopping: What does it mean to work polychronically? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 14(3/4), 184–204.
Craik, F. I. M., & Bialystok, E. (2006). Planning and task management in older adults: Cooking breakfast. Memory & Cognition, 34, 1236–1249. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193268
*Crews, D. E., & Russ, M. J. (2020). The impact of individual differences on multitasking ability. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 69(6), 1301–1319. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-04-2019-0191
Cronbach, L. J. (1957). The two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 12(11), 671–684. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043943
Deprez, S., Vandenbulcke, M., Peeters, R., Emsell, L., Amant, F., & Sunaert, S. (2013). The functional neuroanatomy of multitasking: Combining dual tasking with a short term memory task. Neuropsychologia, 51(11), 2251–2260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.07.024
DeYoung, C. G., Peterson, J. B., & Higgins, D. M. (2005). Sources of openness/intellect: Cognitive and neuropsychological correlates of the fifth factor of personality. Journal of Personality, 73(4), 825–858. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00330.x
DeYoung, C. G., Shamosh, N. A., Green, A. E., Braver, T. S., & Gray, J. R. (2009). Intellect as distinct from Openness: Differences revealed by fMRI of working memory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(5), 883–892. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016615
Dickman, S. J., & Meyer, D. E. (1988). Impulsivity and speed-accuracy tradeoffs in information processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(2), 274–290. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.54.2.274
Draheim, C., Hicks, K. L., & Engle, R. W. (2016). Combining reaction time and accuracy: The relationship between working memory capacity and task switching as a case example. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(1), 133–155. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615596990
Draheim, C., Mashburn, C. A., Martin, J. D., & Engle, R. W. (2019). Reaction time in differential and developmental research: A review and commentary on the problems and alternatives. Psychological Bulletin, 145(5), 508–535. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000192
Dreher, J. C., & Grafman, J. (2003). Dissociating the roles of the rostral anterior cingulate and the lateral prefrontal cortices in performing two tasks simultaneously or successively. Cerebral Cortex, 13(4), 329–339. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/13.4.329
Duckworth, A., & Kern, M. (2011). A meta-analysis of the convergent validity of self-control measures. Journal of Research in Personality, 45(3), 259–268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2011.02.004
Ecker, U. K. H., Lewandowsky, S., & Oberauer, K. (2014). Removal of information from working memory: A specific updating process. Journal of Memory and Language, 74, 77–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2014.03.006
Elsmore, T. F. (1994). SYNWORK1: A PC-based tool for assessment of performance in a simulated work environment. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 26, 412–426. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204659
Engle, R. W. (2018). Working memory and executive attention: A revisit. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 190–193. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617720478
Engle, R. W., Kane, M. J., & Tuholski, S. W. (1999). Individual differences in working memory capacity and what they tell us about controlled attention, general fluid intelligence, and functions of the prefrontal cortex. In A. Miyake & P. Shah (Eds.), Models of working memory: Mechanisms of active maintenance and executive control (pp. 102–134). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139174909.007
Fazeli, P. L., Casaletto, K. B., Woods, S. P., Umlauf, A., Scott, J. C., Moore, D. J., the HNRP Group. (2017). Everyday multitasking abilities in older HIV+ adults: Neurobehavioral correlates and the mediating role of metacognition. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 32, 917–928. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acx047
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press.
*Fischer, R., & Hommel, B. (2012). Deep thinking increases task-set shielding and reduces shifting flexibility in dual-task performance. Cognition, 123(2), 303–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2011.11.015
*Fischer, R., & Plessow, F. (2015). Efficient multitasking: Parallel versus serial processing of multiple tasks. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1366. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01366
Fleming, K. A., Heintzelman, S. J., & Bartholow, B. D. (2016). Specifying associations between conscientiousness and executive functioning: Mental set shifting, not prepotent response inhibition or working memory updating. Journal of Personality, 84(3), 348–360. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12163
Friedman, N. P., & Miyake, A. (2004). The relations among inhibition and interference control functions: A latent-variable analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133(1), 101–135. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.133.1.101
Friedman, N. P., & Miyake, A. (2017). Unity and diversity of executive functions: Individual differences as a window on cognitive structure. Cortex, 86, 186–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2016.04.023
Friedman, N. P., Miyake, A., Altamirano, L. J., Corley, R. P., Young, S. E., Rhea, S. A., & Hewitt, J. K. (2016). Stability and change in executive function abilities from late adolescence to early adulthood: A longitudinal twin study. Developmental Psychology, 52(2), 326–340. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000075
Friedman, N. P., Miyake, A., Corley, R. P., Young, S. E., Defries, J. C., & Hewitt, J. K. (2006). Not all executive functions are related to intelligence. Psychological Science, 17(2), 172–179. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01681.x
Friedman, N. P., Miyake, A., Young, S. E., Defries, J. C., Corley, R. P., & Hewitt, J. K. (2008). Individual differences in executive functions are almost entirely genetic in origin. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 137(2), 201–225. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.137.2.201
*Gade, M., & Koch, I. (2012). Inhibitory processes for critical situations—the role of n—2 task repetition costs in human multitasking situations. Frontiers in Physiology, 3, 159. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2012.00159
Goel, L., & Schnusenberg, O. (2019). Why some people multitask better than others: Predicting learning. Information Systems Management, 36(1), 15–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/10580530.2018.1553646
*Grawitch, M. J., & Barber, L. K. (2013). In search of the relationship between polychronicity and multitasking performance. Journal of Individual Differences, 34, 222–229. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000118
*Guastello, A. D., Guastello, S. J., & Guastello, D. D. (2014). Personality trait theory and multitasking performance: Implications for ergonomic design. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 15(5), 432–450. https://doi.org/10.1080/1463922X.2012.762063
Gustavson, D. E., Miyake, A., Hewitt, J. K., & Friedman, N. P. (2015). Understanding the cognitive and genetic underpinnings of procrastination: Evidence for shared genetic influences with goal management and executive function abilities. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144(6), 1063–1079. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000110
Hall, E. T. (1959). The silent language. Doubleday.
*Hambrick, D. Z., Oswald, F. L., Darowski, E. S., Rench, T. A., & Brou, R. (2010). Predictors of multitasking performance in a synthetic work paradigm. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 1149–1167. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1624
*Hambrick, D. Z., Rench, T. A., Poposki, E. M., Darowski, E. S., Roland, D., Bearden, R. M., Oswald, F. L., & Brou, R. (2011). The relationship between the ASVAB and multitasking in Navy sailors: A process-specific approach. Military Psychology, 23(8), 365–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2011.589323
Helton, W. (2009). Impulsive responding and the sustained attention to response task. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 31(1), 39–47.
Himi, S. A. (2018). Understanding cognitive structure of multitasking behavior and working memory training effects. [Doctoral Dissertation, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Electronic thesis of LMU Munich. https://edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/23189/1/Himi_Samsad_Afrin.pdf.
Himi, S. A., & Bühner, M. (2016). Multitasking behavior and its related constructs: Executive functions, working memory capacity, relational integration, and divided attention [Paper presentation]. 50th Conference of German Psychological Association (DGP), Leipzig, Germany.
Himi, S. A., Bühner, M., Schwaighofer, M., Klapetek, A., & Hilbert, S. (2017). Replication of cognitive models of executive functions and their prediction to multitasking behavior. In M. Bühner (Chair): Prädiktive Modellierungsansätze in der Psychologie (English: Predictive modeling approach in psychology) [Symposium]. 14th Arbeitstagung der Fachgruppe Differentielle Psychologie, Persönlichkeitspsychologie und Psychologische Diagnostik (DPPD), Munich, Germany.
Himi, S. A., Bühner, M., Schwaighofer, M., Klapetek, A., & Hilbert, S. (2018). Cognitive constructs of multitasking behavior. In F. Schmitz (Chair): Individual differences in cognitive abilities [Symposium]. 19th Edition of the European Conference on Personality, Zadar, Croatia.
*Himi, S. A., Bühner, M., Schwaighofer, M., Klapetek, A., & Hilbert, S. (2019). Multitasking behavior and its related constructs: Executive functions, working memory capacity, relational integration, and divided attention. Cognition, 189, 275–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2019.04.010
*Hirnstein, M., Larøi, F., & Laloyaux, J. (2019). No sex difference in an everyday multitasking paradigm. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 83, 286–296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1045-0
Hirsh, J., Deyoung, C., & Peterson, J. (2009). Metatraits of the Big Five differentially predict engagement and restraint of behavior. Journal of Personality, 77(4), 1085–1102.
Hommel, B. (2020). Dual-task performance: Theoretical analysis and an event-coding account. Journal of Cognition, 3(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.114
*Ishizaka, K., Marshall, S. P., & Conte, J. M. (2001). Individual differences in attentional strategies in multitasking situations. Human Performance, 14(4), 339–358. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327043HUP1404_4
Ito, T. A., Friedman, N. P., Bartholow, B. D., Correll, J., Loersch, C., Altamirano, L. J., & Miyake, A. (2015). Toward a comprehensive understanding of executive cognitive function in implicit racial bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(2), 187–218. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038557
Jewsbury, P. A., Bowden, S. C., & Strauss, M. E. (2015). Integrating the switching, inhibition, and updating model of executive function with the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145(2), 220–245. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000119
John, O. P. (2012, May 24–27). Paradigm shift in personality psychology: Traits matter [Paper presentation]. 24th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago.
Jovanovski, D., Zakzanis, K., Campbell, Z., Erb, S., & Nussbaum, D. (2012). Development of a novel, ecologically oriented virtual reality measure of executive function: The Multitasking in the City Test. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 19(3), 171–182. https://doi.org/10.1080/09084282.2011.643955
Kahneman, D. (1973). Attention and effort. Prentice-Hall.
Kane, M., & Engle, R. (2000). Working-memory capacity, proactive interference, and divided attention: Limits on long-term memory retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26(2), 336–358. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.26.2.336
Kane, M. J., Conway, A. R. A., Hambrick, D. Z., & Engle, R. W. (2007). Variation in working-memory capacity as variation in executive attention and control. In A. R. A. Conway, C. Jarrold, M. J. Kane, A. Miyake, & J. N. Towse (Eds.), Variation in working Memory (pp. 21–48). Oxford University Press.
Kieras, D. E., Meyer, D. E., Ballas, J. A., & Lauber, E. J. (2000). Modern computational perspectives on executive mental processes and cognitive control: Where to from here? In S. Monsell & J. Driver (Eds.), Control of cognitive processes: Attention and performance XVIII (pp. 681–712). MIT Press.
Kiesel, A., Steinhauser, M., Wendt, M., Falkenstein, M., Jost, K., Philipp, A. M., & Koch, I. (2010). Control and interference in task switching—A review. Psychological Bulletin, 136(5), 849–874. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019842
*Kirchberg, D. M., Roe, R. A., & Van Erde, W. (2015). Polychronicity and multitasking: A diary study at work. Human Performance, 28(2), 112–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959285.2014.976706
Koch, I., Gade, M., Schuch, S., & Philipp, A. M. (2010). The role of inhibition in task switching: A review. Psychonomic Bulletin Review, 17, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.17.1.1
*Koch, I., Poljac, E., Müller, H., & Kiesel, A. (2018). Cognitive structure, flexibility, and plasticity in human multitasking—An integrative review of dual-task and task-switching research. Psychological Bulletin, 144(3), 557–583. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000144
*König, C. J., Bühner, M., & Mürling, G. (2005). Working memory, fluid intelligence, and attention are predictors of multitasking performance, but polychronicity and extraversion are not. Human Performance, 18(3), 243–266. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327043hup1803_3
*König, C. J., Oberacher, L., & Kleinmann, M. (2010). Personal and situational determinants of multitasking at work. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 9(2), 99–103. https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000008
Kübler, S., Strobach, T., & Schubert, T. (2022a). The role of working memory for task-order coordination in dual-task situations. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 86, 452–473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-021-01517-2
Kübler, S., Strobach, T., & Schubert, T. (2022b). On the organization of task-order and task-specific information in dual-task situations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 48(1), 94–113. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000969
*Kurapati, S., Lukosch, H., Eckerd, S., Verbraeck, A., & Corsi, T. (2017). Relating planner task performance for container terminal operations to multi-tasking skills and personality type. Transportation Research Part f: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 51, 47–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2017.09.002
Kyllonen, P. C., & Christal, R. E. (1990). Reasoning ability is (little more than) working-memory capacity?!. Intelligence, 14(4), 389–433. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2896(05)80012-1
Laloyaux, J., Van der Linden, M., Nuechterlein, K. H., Thonon, B., & Larøi, F. (2018). A direct examination of the cognitive underpinnings of multitasking abilities: A first study examining schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research, 268, 288–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.06.060
Lange, S. (2013). Metaanalysen zum Zusammenhang von der Allgemeinen, Fluiden und Kristallisierten Intelligenz mit dem Fünf-Faktoren-Modell der Persönlichkeit unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Publikationsbias [Meta-analyses on the connection between general, fluid and crystallized intelligence and the five-factor model of personality with special consideration of publication bias] (Doctoral dissertation). Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Bonn, Germany. http://hss.ulb.uni-bonn.de/2013/3286/3286.pdf.
Lieberman, M. D., & Rosenthal, R. (2001). Why introverts can’t always tell who likes them: Multitasking and nonverbal decoding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(2), 294–310. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.2.294
Lien, M., Ruthruff, E., & Johnston, J. (2006). Attentional limitations in doing two tasks at once the search for exceptions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(2), 89–93. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2006.00413.x
*Lin, L., Cockerham, D., Chang, Z., & Natividad, G. (2016). Task speed and accuracy decrease when multitasking. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 21(3), 307–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-015-9266-4
Logan, D., & Gordon, R. D. (2001). Executive control of visual attention in dual-task situations. Psychological Review, 108(2), 393–434. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033295X.108.2.393
Logie, R. H., Cocchini, G., Della Sala, S., & Baddeley, A. D. (2004). Is there a specific executive capacity for dual task coordination? Evidence from Alzheimer’s disease. Neuropsychology, 18(3), 504–513. https://doi.org/10.1037/0894-4105.18.3.504
Logie, R. H., Law, A., Trawley, S., & Nissan, J. (2010). Multitasking, working memory and remembering intentions. Psychologica Belgica, 50(3–4), 309–326. https://doi.org/10.5334/pb-50-3-4-309
*Logie, R. H., Trawley, S., & Law, A. (2011). Multitasking: Multiple, domain-specific cognitive functions in a virtual environment. Memory and Cognition, 39, 1561–1574. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-011-0120-1
Lui, K. F. H., & Wong, A.C.-N. (2012). Does media multitasking always hurt? A positive correlation between multitasking and multisensory integration. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 19(4), 647–653. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-012-0245-7
*Lui, K. F. H., & Wong, A.C.-N. (2019). Multiple processing limitations underlie multitasking costs. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 84(7), 1946–1964. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01196-0
Makel, M. C., Plucker, J. A., & Hegarty, B. (2012). Replications in psychology research how often do they really occur? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(6), 537–542. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612460688
*Mäntylä, T. (2013). Gender differences in multitasking reflect spatial ability. Psychological Science, 24(4), 514–520. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612459660
*Martin, J., Mashburn, C. A., & Engle, R. W. (2020). Improving the validity of the armed service vocational aptitude battery with measures of attention control. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 9(3), 323–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.04.002
*Mattarelli, E., Bertolotti, F., & Incerti, V. (2015). The interplay between organizational polychronicity, multitasking behaviors and organizational identification: A mixed-methods study in knowledge intensive organizations. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 79, 6–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2015.02.002
McAlister, C., & Schmitter-Edgecombe, M. P. (2013). Naturalistic assessment of executive function and everyday multitasking in healthy older adults. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 20(6), 735–756. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2013.781990
Medeiros-Ward, N., Watson, J. M., & Strayer, D. L. (2015). On supertaskers and the neural basis of efficient multitasking. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 22, 876–883. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-014-0713-3
Miller, J., & Durst, M. (2015). A comparison of the psychological refractory period and prioritized processing paradigms: Can the response-selection bottleneck model explain them both? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human, Perception and Performance, 41(5), 1420–1441. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000103
Minear, M., Brasher, F., McCurdy, M., Lewis, J., & Younggren, A. (2013). Working memory, fluid intelligence, and impulsiveness in heavy media multitaskers. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 20(6), 1274–1281. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-013-0456-6
Mittelstädt, V., Miller, J., & Kiesel, A. (2018). Trading off switch costs and stimulus availability benefits: An investigation of voluntary task-switching behavior in a predictable dynamic multitasking environment. Memory and Cognition, 46, 699–715. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-018-0802-z
Miyake, A., & Friedman, N. P. (2012). The nature and organization of individual differences in executive functions: Four general conclusions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(1), 8–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721411429458
Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “Frontal Lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49–100. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
Monsell, S. (2003). Task switching. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7(3), 134–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00028-7
*Morgan, B., D’Mello, S., Abbott, R., Radvansky, G., Haass, M., & Tamplin, A. (2013). Individual differences in multitasking ability and adaptability. Human Factors, 55(4), 776–788. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018720812470842
Murray, A. L., Johnson, W., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2014). How are conscientiousness and cognitive ability related to one another? A re-examination of the intelligence compensation hypothesis. Personality and Individual Differences, 70, 17–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.06.014
Neal, A., Ballard, T., & Vancouver, J. B. (2017). Dynamic self-regulation and multiple- goal pursuit. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4, 401–423.
Oberauer, K. (2010). Declarative and procedural working memory: Common principles, common capacity limits? Psychologica Belgica, 50(3–4), 27–308. https://doi.org/10.5334/pb-50-3-4-277
Oberauer, K., Souza, A. S., Druey, M. D., & Gade, M. (2013). Analogous mechanisms of selection and updating in declarative and procedural working memory: Experiments and a computational model. Cognitive Psychology, 66(2), 157–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2012.11.001
Oberauer, K., Süß, H.-M., Wilhelm, O., & Wittman, W. W. (2003). The multiple faces of working memory. Intelligence, 31(2), 167–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2896(02)00115-0
Oberauer, K., Süβ, H.-M., Wilhelm, O., & Wittmann, W. W. (2008). Which working memory functions predict intelligence? Intelligence, 36(6), 641–652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2008.01.007
Ophir, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, A. D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 15583–15587. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0903620106
Palladino, P., & Artuso, C. (2018). Working memory updating: Load and binding. The Journal of General Psychology, 145(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221309.2017.1415083
Pashler, H. (1994). Dual-task interference in simple tasks: Data and theory. Psychological Bulletin, 116(2), 220–244. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.116.2.220
Pellegrino, J. W., & Glaser, R. (1979). Cognitive correlates and components in the analysis of individual differences. Intelligence, 3(3), 187–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-2896(79)90017-5
Philipp, A. M., Kalinich, C., Koch, I., & Schubotz, R. I. (2008). Mixing costs and switch costs when switching stimulus dimensions in serial predictions. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 72, 405–414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-008-0150-x
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Poposki, E. M., & Oswald, F. L. (2010). The multitasking preference inventory: Toward an improved measure of individual differences in polychronicity. Human Performance, 23(3), 247–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959285.2010.487843
Poposki, E. M., Oswald, F. L., & Chen, H. T. (2009). Neuroticism negatively affects multitasking performance through state anxiety. Technical report for Navy Personnel Research, Studies, and Technology (NPRST-TN-09-3). Millington, TN.
Poropat, A. E. (2009). A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and academic performance. Psychological Bulletin, 135(2), 322–338. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014996
Postlethwaite, B. E. (2011). Fluid ability, crystallized ability, and performance across multiple domains: A meta-analysis (Doctoral dissertation). http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.829.963&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Ralph, B. C., Thomson, D. R., Cheyne, J. A., & Smilek, D. (2014). Media multitasking and failures of attention in everyday life. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 78(5), 661–669. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-013-0523-7
Raven, J. (2000). The Raven’s progressive matrices: Change and stability over culture and time. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 1–48. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0735
*Redick, T. S. (2016). On the relation of working memory and multitasking: Memory span and synthetic work performance. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 5(4), 401–409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2016.05.003
*Redick, T. S., Shipstead, Z., Meier, M. E., Montroy, J. J., Hicks, K. L., Unsworth, N., Kane, M. J., & Hambrick, D. Z. (2016). Cognitive predictors of a common multitasking ability: Contributions from working memory, attention control, and fluid intelligence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145(11), 1473–1492. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000219
Rey-Mermet, A., Gade, M., & Oberauer, K. (2018). Should we stop thinking about inhibition? Searching for individual and age differences in inhibition ability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 44(4), 501–526. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000450
Roberts, B. W., & Mroczek, D. (2008). Personality trait change in adulthood. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(1), 31–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00543.x
Roca, M., Torralva, T., Gleichgerrcht, E., Woolgar, A., Thompson, R., Duncan, J., & Manes, F. (2011). The role of Area 10 (BA10) in human multitasking and in social cognition: A lesion study. Neuropsychologia, 49(13), 3525–3531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.09.003
Rushton, J. P., Brainerd, C. J., & Pressley, M. (1983). Behavioral development and construct validity: The principle of aggregation. Psychological Bulletin, 94(1), 18–38. https://doi.org/10.1037/00332909.94
*Salvucci, D. D., & Taatgen, N. A. (2008). Threaded cognition: An integrated theory of concurrent multitasking. Psychological Review, 115(1), 101–130. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.115.1.101
*Sanbonmatsu, D. M., Strayer, D. L., Medeiros-Ward, N., & Watson, J. M. (2013). Who multi-tasks and why? Multi-tasking ability, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. PLoS ONE, 8, e54402. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054402
*Sanderson, K. R., Bruk-Lee, V., Viswesvaran, C., Gutierrez, S., & Kantrowitz, T. (2013). Multitasking: Do preference and ability interact to predict performance at work? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 86(4), 556–563. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12025
*Sanderson, K. R., Bruk-Lee, V., Viswesvaran, C., Gutierrez, S., & Kantrowitz, T. (2016). Investigating the nomological network of multitasking ability in a field sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 91, 52–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.11.013
*Sanjram, P. K. (2013). Attention and intended action in multitasking: An understanding of cognitive workload. Displays, 34(4), 283–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.displa.2013.09.001
Schmitter-Edgecombe, M., McAlister, C., & Weakley, A. (2012). Naturalistic assessment of everyday functioning in individuals with mild cognitive impairment: The day-out task. Neuropsychology, 26(5), 631–641. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029352
Schönbrodt, F. D., & Perugini, M. (2013). At what sample size do correlations stabilize? Journal of Research in Personality, 47(5), 609–612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2013.05.009
Shin, M., Webb, A., & Kemps, E. (2019). Media multitasking, impulsivity and dual task ability. Computers in Human Behavior, 92, 160–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.11.018
Spink, A., Charles, C., & Mary, W. (2008). Multitasking behavior. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 42, 93–118.
*Stephens, K. K., Cho, J. K., & Ballard, D. I. (2012). Simultaneity, sequentiality, and speed: Organizational messages about multiple-task completion. Human Communication Research, 38(1), 23–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2011.01420.x
Stoet, G., O’Connor, D. B., Conner, M., & Laws, K. R. (2013). Are women better than men at multi-tasking? BMC Psychology, 1, 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/2050-7283-1-18
Strobach, T., Salminen, T., Karbach, J., & Schubert, T. (2014). Practice-related optimization and transfer of executive functions: A general review and a specific realization of their mechanisms in dual tasks. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 78(6), 836–851. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-014-0563-7
Süβ, H.-M., Oberauer, K., Wittmann, W. W., Wilhelm, O., & Schulze, R. (2002). Working memory capacity explains reasoning ability—and a little bit more. Intelligence, 30(3), 261–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2896(01)00100-3
*Szumowska, E., & Kossowska, M. (2016). Need for closure and multitasking performance: The role of shifting ability. Personality and Individual Differences, 96, 12–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.02.055
Taatgen, N. A., Juvina, I., Schipper, M., Borst, J. P., & Martens, S. (2009). Too much control can hurt: A threaded cognition model of the attentional blink. Cognitive Psychology, 59(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2008.12.002
Thoma, P., Koch, B., Heyder, K., Schwarz, M., & Daum, I. (2008). Subcortical contributions to multitasking and response inhibition. Behavioural Brain Research, 194(2), 214–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2008.07.016
*Todorov, I., Del Missier, F., Konke, L. A., & Mäntylä, T. (2015). Deadlines in space: Selective effects of coordinate spatial processing in multitasking. Memory and Cognition, 43(8), 1216–1228. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-015-0529-z
*Todorov, I., Missier, D. F., & Mäntylä, T. (2014). Age-related differences in multiple task monitoring. PLoS ONE, 9, e107619. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107619
Unsworth, N. (2019). Individual differences in long-term memory. Psychological Bulletin, 145(1), 79–139. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000176
Unsworth, N., & Robison, M. K. (2016). The influence of lapses of attention on working memory capacity. Memory and Cognition, 44, 188–196. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-015-0560-0
Van Bergen, A. (1968). Task interruption. North-Holland Publishing.
Vergauwe, E., von Bastian, C. C., Kostova, R., & Morey, C. C. (2020). Storage and processing in working memory: A single, domain-general resource explains multi-tasking. Manuscript submitted for publication.
von Bastian, C. C., Blais, C., Brewer, G. A., Gyurkovics, M., Hedge, C., Kałamała, P., Meier, M. E., Oberauer, K., Rey-Mermet, A., Rouder, J. N., Conway, A. R. A., Draheim, C., Engle, R. W., Friedman, N. P., Frischkorn, G. T., Gustavson, D. E., Koch, I., ......Weimers, E. A. (2020). Advancing the understanding of individual differences in attentional control: Theoretical, methodological, and analytical considerations. Manuscript submitted for publication.
von Bastian, C. C., & Oberauer, K. (2013). Distinct transfer effects of training different facets of working memory capacity. Journal of Memory and Language, 69(1), 36–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2013.02.002
*Walter, S., & Meier, B. (2014). How important is importance for prospective memory. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 657. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00657
Wang, Y., Cao, X., Cui, J., Shum, D. H. K., & Chan, R. C. K. (2013). The relation between prospective memory and working memory: Evidence from event-related potential data. PsyCh Journal, 2(2), 113–121. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.24
Watson, J. M., & Strayer, D. L. (2010). Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 17, 479–485. https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.17.4.479
Zabelina, D., Friedman, N., & Andrews-Hanna, J. (2019). Unity and diversity of executive functions in creativity. Consciousness and Cognition, 68, 47–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2018.12.005
*Zhang, Y., Goonetilleke, R. S., Plocher, T., & Liang, S. M. (2005). Time-related behaviour in multitasking situations. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 62(4), 425–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2005.01.002
Ziegler, M., Danay, E., Heene, M., Asendorpf, J., & Bühner, M. (2012). Openness, fluid intelligence, and crystallized intelligence: Toward an integrative model. Journal of Research in Personality, 46, 173–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2012.01.002
Funding
The first author gratefully acknowledges the financial support given by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for carrying out her doctoral program in Germany (Grant 57129429).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
We declare that we have no conflict of interest.
Ethics approval
Not applicable.
Consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Himi, S.A., Volberg, G., Bühner, M. et al. Individual differences in everyday multitasking behavior and its relation to cognition and personality. Psychological Research 87, 655–685 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01700-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01700-z