Again, the multitaskers submitted more words per second and more correct words compared with their single-tasking peers. Some saw puzzles that were supposedly part of the same study and were displayed against the same background others saw puzzles that were supposedly part of two different studies and were displayed against different background colors separated by a vertical line.Īs expected, participants who saw the puzzles as part of different studies rated the activity as more like multitasking than did those who believed they were completing tasks for a single study. All participants completed two word puzzles presented on screen at the same time. In another online study, the researchers investigated whether a more subtle manipulation would influence perceptions of multitasking. The researchers saw a similar pattern of results in an online note-taking study: Participants who believed they were multitasking took higher-quality notes with more words compared with those who believed they single-tasking.
The results were revealing: Participants who believed they were multitasking transcribed more words per second, wrote a greater number of words accurately, and scored better on a comprehension quiz. In other words, both groups completed the exact same activities, the only difference was their belief about how many tasks were completing at one time. Half of the participants believed they'd be completing two tasks, a learning task and a transcribing task the other half believed they'd be completing a single task testing their learning and writing abilities. In a lab-based study, 162 participants watched and transcribed an educational video from Animal Planet. Srna and colleagues wanted to find out whether shifting our perceptions about multitasking could change how we engage with the task(s) at hand. When we are clothes shopping, we could view it as looking for the best deals or we could see it as simultaneously browsing the clothing racks and comparing competitors' prices.
We might perceive sitting in a meeting as a single task, Srna says, but we may actually be engaged in two tasks: listening to the person speaking and taking notes. Importantly, our perception of multitasking is flexible. "Regardless of whether people actually engage in a single task or multiple tasks, making them perceive this activity as multitasking is beneficial to performance."Įvidence suggests that humans are actually incapable of paying attention to multiple tasks at the same time - we may think that we're multitasking, but we're actually switching back and forth between tasks. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. "Multitasking is often a matter of perception or can even be thought of as an illusion," explains researcher Shalena Srna of the Stephen M.
0 kommentar(er)
