Advertisement

Technology, Knowledge and Learning

, Volume 21, Issue 3, pp 307–323 | Cite as

Task Speed and Accuracy Decrease When Multitasking

  • Lin Lin
  • Deborah Cockerham
  • Zhengsi Chang
  • Gloria Natividad
Original research
First Online:

Abstract

As new technologies increase the opportunities for multitasking, the need to understand human capacities for multitasking continues to grow stronger. Is multitasking helping us to be more efficient? This study investigated the multitasking abilities of 168 participants, ages 6–72, by measuring their task accuracy and completion time when they completed a visual or auditory task alone (single-tasking) as compared to when they attempted the two tasks simultaneously (multitasking). Age, gender, and personality factors were assessed. Observations and post-study interviews provided additional insights into the participants’ multitasking strategies. Results showed significantly lower accuracy and longer completion time in participants when they attempted the combined tasks, suggesting that even concurrent tasks that depend upon different modalities may hinder efficiency. In addition, a significant correlation was seen between age groupings, with teenagers (ages 13–19) and young adults (ages 20–40) showing the strongest multitasking abilities.

Keywords

Multitasking Single-tasking Dual-task Cognitive load Accuracy Speed Personality traits 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ken Cockerham for his assistance in designing and conducting the study. We also wish to thank the Research and Learning Center at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History for their hospitality and their continued support.

References

  1. Abbott, A. (2013). Gaming improves multitasking skills. Nature, 501(7465), 18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Alais, D., Morrone, C., & Burr, D. (2006). Separate attentional resources for vision and audition. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 273(1592), 1339–1345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Baddeley, A. D., Chincotta, D., & Adlam, A. (2001). Working memory and the control of action: Evidence from task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 641–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Baron, R. A. (2007). Behavioral and cognitive factors in entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurs as the active element in new venture creation. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 1(1–2), 167–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Burgess, P. W., Veitch, E., de Lacy Costello, A., & Shallice, T. (2000). The cognitive and neuroanatomical correlates of multitasking. Neuropsychologia, 38(6), 848–863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Conte, J., & Jacobs, R. (2003). Validity evidence linking polychronicity and big five personality dimensions to absence, lateness, and supervisory performance ratings. Human Performance, 16(2), 107–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Cramer, D. (1998). Fundamental statistics for social research. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
  8. Cramer, D., & Howitt, D. (2004). The SAGE dictionary of statistics. London: SAGE.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Doane, D. P., & Seward, L. E. (2011). Measuring skewness. Journal of Statistics Education, 19(2), 1–18.Google Scholar
  10. Foehr, U. G. (2006). Media multitasking among american youth: prevalence, predictors and pairings. Washington, DC: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved April 1, 2015 from http://kff.org/other/media-multitasking-among-american-youth-prevalence-predictors/
  11. 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. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.137.2.201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Gibson, D. (2011). simSchool ocean survey. Retrieved from http://simschool.org
  13. Goldberg, L., Johnson, J., Eber, H., Hogan, R., Ashton, M., Cloninger, R., & Gough, H. (2006). The international personality item pool and the future of public-domain personality measures. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 84–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Green, C. S., Li, R., & Bavelier, D. (2010). Perceptual learning during action video game playing. Topics in cognitive science, 2(2), 202–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Hall, E. T. (2000). Monochronic and polychronic time. Intercultural communication: A reader, 9, 280–286.Google Scholar
  16. Hayles, N. K. (2007). Hyper and deep attention: The generational divide in cognitive modes. Profession, 2007(1), 187–199. doi: 10.1632/prof.2007.2007.1.187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Ishizaka, K., Marshall, S. P., & Conte, J. M. (2001). Individual differences in attentional strategies in multitasking situations. Human Performance, 14(4), 339–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Just, M. A., Carpenter, P. A., Keller, T. A., Emery, L., Zajac, H., & Thulborn, K. R. (2001). Interdependence of nonoverlapping cortical systems in dual cognitive tasks. NeuroImage, 14(2), 417–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Kahneman, D. (1973). Attention and effort. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
  20. Klingberg, T. (2009). The overflowing brain: Information overload and the limits of working memory. UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  21. Kolb, B., & Whishaw, I. Q. (1998). Brain plasticity and behavior. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 43–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Konig, C. J., Buhner, M., & Murling, 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.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Kushleyeva, Y., Salvucci, D. D., & Lee, F. J. (2005). Deciding when to switch tasks in time critical multitasking. Cognitive Systems Research, 6(1), 41–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Levitin, D. (2015). Why the modern world is bad for your brain. Neuroscience: The Observer http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/18/modern-world-bad-for-brain-daniel-j-levitin-organized-mind-information-overload.
  25. Lin, L. (2009). Breadth-biased versus focused cognitive control in media multitasking behaviors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) USA, 106, 15521–15522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Lin, L., Cranton, P., & Lee, J. (2014). Research methodologies for multitasking studies. In V. Wang (Ed.), Handbook of research on scholarly publishing and research methods (pp. 329–348). IGI.Google Scholar
  27. Lin, L., Lee, J., & Robertson, T. (2011). Reading while watching video: The effect of video content on reading comprehension and media multitasking ability. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 45(2), 183–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Lin, L., Li, J., Wircenski, M., & Wircenski, J. (2013). Multitasking and career skill requirements: Implications for career technical education. Workforce Education Forum, 36(1), 1–20.Google Scholar
  29. Mäntylä, T. (2013). Gender differences in multitasking reflect spatial ability. Psychological Science, 24(4), 514–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Meyer, D. E., & Kieras, D. E. (1997). A computational theory of executive cognitive processes and multiple-task performance: Part I. Basic mechanisms. Psychological Review, 104(1), 229–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Ophir, E., Nass, C. I., & Wagner, A. D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(37), 15583–15587. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0903620106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Poldrack, R. A., & Foerde, K. (2008). Category learning and the memory systems debate. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 32(2), 197–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Prensky, M. (2001). Digital game-based learning. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
  34. Razali, N. M., & Wah, Y. B. (2011). Power comparisons of Shapiro–Wilk, Kolmogorov–Smirnov, Lilliefors and Anderson–Darling tests. Journal of Statistical Modeling and Analytics, 2(1), 21–33.Google Scholar
  35. Rosen, L. D. (2011). Teaching the iGeneration. Educational Leadership, 68(5), 10–15.Google Scholar
  36. Rowlands, I., Nicholas, D., Williams, P., Huntington, P., Fieldhouse, M., Gunter, B., & Tenopir, C. (2008, July). The Google generation: the information behaviour of the researcher of the future. In Aslib proceedings (Vol. 60, No. 4, pp. 290–310). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Google Scholar
  37. Shapiro, S. S., & Wilk, M. B. (1965). An Analysis of Variance Test for Normality (Complete Samples). Biometrika, 52(3/4), 591–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Strayer, D. L., Medeiros-Ward, N., & Watson, J. M. (2013). Gender invariance in multitasking: A comment on Mäntylä (2013). Psychological Science, 24(5), 809–810.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Stricker, A. G. (2009). Why Affective Learning in a Situated Place Matters for the Millennial Generation. Air University, AL: Wright Stuff.Google Scholar
  40. Tapscott, D. (2008). Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
  41. Wallis, C. (2006). The multitasking generation. Time Magazine, 167(13), 48–55.Google Scholar
  42. Wickens, C. D. (2008). Multiple resources and mental workload. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 50(3), 449–455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Woodcock, R. W., McGrew, K. S., & Mather, N. (2001). Test 2: Reading Fluency. Woodcock-Johnson III Normative Update Tests of Achievement. Riverside, CA:  Riverside Publishing.Google Scholar
  44. Zelazo, P. D., Müller, U., & Goswami, U. (Eds.). (2002). Executive function in typical and atypical development. Blackwell handbook of childhood cognitive development. Blackwell handbooks of developmental psychology (pp. 445–469). Malden: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.University of North TexasDentonUSA
  2. 2.FWMSH Research and Learning CenterFort WorthUSA
  3. 3.University of Texas at ArlingtonArlingtonUSA

Personalised recommendations

Cite article

Buy options