Human multitasking is an apparent human ability to
perform more than one task, or activity, over a short period of time. An
example of multitasking is taking phone calls while typing an email and reading
a book. Multitasking can result in time wasted due to human context switching
and apparently causing more errors due to insufficient attention. Studies have
shown that it is impossible to multitask. However, if one is a professional at
the task at hand, then it is possible to do these tasks.
Although the idea that women are better multitaskers
than men has been popular in the media as well in conventional thought, there
is very little data available to support claims of a real sex difference. Most
studies that do show any sex differences tend to find that the differences are
small and inconsistent. A study by psychologist Keith Laws was widely reported
in the press to have provided the first evidence of female multitasking
superiority.
Because the brain cannot fully focus when
multitasking, people take longer to complete tasks and are predisposed to
error. When people attempt to complete many tasks at one time, “or [alternate]
rapidly between them, errors go way up and it takes far longer—often double the
time or more—to get the jobs done than if they were done sequentially,” said
Meyer.
Author: Rubinstein (2001)
Source:
* Rubinstein, Joshua S.; Meyer, David E.; Evans, Jeffrey
E. (2001). Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching.
Human Perception and Performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology. "Sex differences in the structural connectome of
the human brain". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 16
April 2014.
* Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., Evans, J. E. (August, 2001). Executive Control of
Cognitive Processes in Task Switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human
Perception and Performance. Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 763-797.
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