Task Speed and Accuracy Decrease When Multitasking
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Task Speed and Accuracy Decrease When Multitasking Lin Lin1 • Deborah Cockerham2 • Zhengsi Chang3 Gloria Natividad1
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Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015
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
& Lin Lin [email protected] Deborah Cockerham [email protected] Zhengsi Chang [email protected] Gloria Natividad [email protected] 1
University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA
2
FWMSH Research and Learning Center, Fort Worth, TX, USA
3
University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
123
L. Lin et al.
1 Introduction Whether caring for a baby while cooking a meal, working on the farm while watching for predators, or taking notes while listening to a lecture, human beings have historically engaged in simultaneous tasks. However, the proliferation and mobility of technology in today’s world seem to stimulate an increasing need to accomplish two or more activities at the same time. Most research on multitasking, whether the focus is dual tasking, task switching, or sequential actions, indicates that an individual’s task performance is negatively impacted when they attempt to perform two or more tasks together, and that they retain less information than if they focused on one task at a time (Baddeley et al. 2001; Klingberg 2009; Meyer and Kieras 1997; Poldrack and Foerde 2008). Studies also show that multitasking capacity may depend upon differences in gender, age, experience, cognitive load, tasks involved, automation, and expertise levels (Lin et al. 2011; Just et al. 2001). Meanwhile, the rate of multitasking continues to grow, and multitasking is increasingly perceived as a positive ability or a skill to acquire (Lin et al. 2013). With this study, we set out to study and dialogue about this topic with the public in a museum setting.
2 Literature and Theoretical Framework Terminologies that are currently used to describe the multitasking phenomenon vary from field to fiel
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