Multitasking and Attention 1 PSYC 217 Research Report: The Effect of Multitasking on Performance Tracey Jin The University of British Columbia Author Note Ava Belanger .; John Choi .; Tracey Jin .; Yoona Park .; Francis Tan .; Jessica Yang., The University of British Columbia. Correspondence regarding this paper should be addressed to Tracey Jin, Department of Psychology, (2136 West Mall Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z4). Email: traceyjin.96@gmail.com
Multitasking and Attention 2 Abstract Multitasking has been recently considered as a strength in our life. People tend to switch between tasks. To examine if multitasking means truly being productive, our group conducted a controlled experiment using college students as subjects. Within this concept, this report would first provide brief background of multitasking with two related studies and the goal of our research. Next, it would discuss the details of how we conducted our study and how we analyzed the statistics. Finally, the paper would deliver an interpretation of our results during multitasking behavior. Keywords: multitasking, performance, disturbance, attention. Introduction The increasing complexity of everyday life and work environments often requires people to involve in multitasking behaviors. Common example of this, for instance, is talking on the telephone while driving at the same time for saving their time to get as much information. Multitasking these days has been considered an important human behavior to be as productive as possible to survive our intense life, and it is not only limited to some people. Although the actual question here is "does multitasking really improve our performance?" Researchers such as Dr. Tim Randazzo, from Standard University, and Dr. Joshua Rubinstein, from University of Michigan, established significant frameworks of relationship between multitasking and productivity, and are gradually changing people's idea towards the effect of multitasking. In the research conducted at Sandford University, Dr. Tim Randazzo shows that students who think they can multitask effectively in fact suffer from declined memory and ability to concentrate, compared to monotaskers who solely focus on one task at once. After
Multitasking and Attention 3 introducing strategies like Pomodoro technique or online apps to help students avoid multitasking and stay focused on one thing, they are aware of how much more they can achieve by mono-tasking, meaning the study even accomplished to modify students' view of being genuinely productive.[ CITATION Mas17 \l 1033 ] In addition, a study coordinated by Dr. Joshua Rubinstein also indicates that multitasking is less efficient because it takes extra time to shift mental gears every time when a person switches task to task. A new model called cognitive control is proposed by Dr. Rubinstein, and he explains that our brain embarks rule activation once you have decided to switch processes. This process requires brain to shut down the cognitive rules of the old task and turn on new rules for the next one. The time taken for the brain to shift processes and cognitive rules takes more time and leads to inefficiency in completing tasks. [ CITATION Gau01 \l 1033 ] These being said, our