Welcome

          In Education Week, reporter Sarah D. Sparks writes about the studies on multitasking and how it affects the brain, thus one’s daily life. The average types of media used outside of school by 13-18 year olds is six, for example, cellphones. By paying partial attention to everything, one can miss important information, have a harder time understanding things, and having slower reaction times. Researchers found the brain cannot be two places at once. The brain has to switch from one thing to another, which could be milliseconds up to whole seconds. Even though it seems like just a short amount of time, every second counts when in certain situations. Chairman of the psychological and brain sciences department at Johns Hopkins University, Steven G. Yantis said that a full second delayed reaction time at full speed is “halfway into the trunk of the car in front of you” (Sparks).

          Researchers have also found that multitasking can take longer than doing one thing after another. Making decisions while multitasking slows the process down even more. Having to think about the context of the choice, making the choice, and then going back to the previous activity results in slower mentality. This is due to a “bottleneck in the prefrontal cortex” (Sparks). Multitaskers tend to do worse on memory and attention tests because their attention is split. They are not fully focusing and understanding at the same rate as someone who is only doing one thing at a time.

          A 2011 California State University experiment tested the scores of students who had to respond to text messages during a presentation. The scores of tests are affected because having to answer questions completely different than what they are being tested on forces the brain to detach from one subject to focus on another, resulting in missed information. When one draws their attention away from reading material, it becomes harder for that person to remember what they were reading about and to get back into the reading mentality, instead of just skimming without understanding.

          The original “marshmallow test” showed that it is hard to have self-control for something that is appealing. It tested preschoolers’ ability to wait fifteen minutes to eat a marshmallow, in return for more marshmallows. This experiment is one of the longest ongoing experiments, because the researchers keep track of the kids as they grow into adulthood. They keep track of their academic and life accomplishments. The results showed that “Fewer than one-third of the 4-year-olds tested had the self-control to wait, but those who did showed academic and social success in the years that followed” (Sparks). In the California State University experiment, the same concept was shown. When students got the text message, the testers often responded fairly quickly to the text messages. The results showed that the faster the texts were responded to, the scores were affected negatively.

          People are not really multitaskers. They merely switch their attention between two or more subjects. People should learn how to use this ability wisely, not just how to. Many people know the basic concept of multitasking; however, executing it wisely could make all the difference.

          A major multitasking mistake people make is driving while texting. However, texting is not the only thing on a phone that could distract someone. I often find myself having a regular phone call while driving. Talking on the phone may be the slightest bit safer than texting because one can keep looking at the road. Unfortunately, it is still considered a distraction. I recently had an experience with distracting phone conversations while driving. I was on my way to the mall, when I got a phone call from my friend. She was calling because she had to rant about personal drama, and I was ready to listen and help her. I realized even talking on the phone veered my attention away from all the specifics needed while driving. It seemed to me that when I was focusing on my friend, my driving went on autopilot to the back of my mind. This is dangerous because that means my driving instincts and reactions slow, which could be life or death. I found myself not checking the lanes around me properly, and when I wanted to get into the lane to my left, I missed a car in my blind-spot. Luckily, they sped up into my line of sight before something bad could happen. This shows that my brain could not fully focus on one task while trying to do another. Trying to hold a full conversation while driving is difficult and potentially dangerous.

 

Works Cited

Sparks, Sarah D. "Studies on Multitasking Highlight Value of Self-Control." Education Week. Education Week, 15 May  

          2012. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.