Multitasking
Multitasking - Related Videos
05:58
Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking
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Cited by 3 •
2018
This method uses a dynamic visual display to index costs of distraction during visual search, including both "contingent attentional capture" and "set-specific capture," which is a cost of distraction that occurs when the participants maintain multiple search goals simultaneously. This method has revealed basic mechanisms and limitations of visual attention.
12:54
Vision Training Methods for Sports Concussion Mitigation and Management
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Cited by 43 •
2015
This paper describes a protocol to conduct, quantitatively monitor, and assess the success of vision training initiated as part of a sports medical management program including intervention for concussion prevention and performance enhancement.
02:40
Pollination and Flower Structure
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2020
Flowers are the reproductive, seed-producing structures of angiosperms. Typically, flowers consist of sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. Sepals and petals are the vegetative flower organs. Stamens and carpels are the reproductive organs. Flowers must be pollinated to produce seeds. In angiosperms, pollination is the transfer of pollen from the anther of the stamen (the male structure) to the stigma of the carpel (the female structure). Flowers may be self-pollinated or cross-pollinated.
06:14
Dichotic Listening
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2023
Source: Laboratory of Jonathan Flombaum—Johns Hopkins University It is a well-known fact that the human ability to process incoming stimuli is limited. Nonetheless, the world is complicated, and there are always many things going on at once. Selective attention is the mechanism that allows humans and other animals to control which stimuli get processed and which become ignored. Think of a cocktail party: a person couldn’t possibly attend to all of the conversations taking place at once.
06:56
Particles without a Box: Brush-first Synthesis of Photodegradable PEG Star Polymers under Ambient Conditions
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Cited by 17 •
2013
Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) brush-arm star polymers (BASPs) with narrow mass distributions and tunable nanoscopic sizes are synthesized in via ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of a PEG-norbornene macromonomer followed by transfer of portions of the resulting living brush initiator to vials containing varied amounts of a rigid, photo-cleavable bis-norbornene crosslinker.
FAQs
Multitasking can slow performance because the brain often manages competing activities by switching between them rather than processing both continuously. Each switch requires a change in attention and can increase reaction time and errors. The effect becomes especially important when tasks compete for the same cognitive resources, helping explain why divided attention can reduce performance.
Performance is more likely to decline when concurrent activities depend on overlapping attentional or working-memory resources. Competition makes it harder to maintain information, perceive relevant details, and respond efficiently to both tasks. This principle explains why multitasking outcomes vary according to the mental demands of the activities, rather than simply the number of tasks.
Task switching increases mental workload because attention must repeatedly disengage from one activity and orient toward another. These shifts add demands beyond the tasks themselves, while interruptions can make it harder to maintain focus and respond accurately. Studying this burden helps psychology explain why rapidly alternating activities may feel more effortful even when each task seems manageable alone.
Attention determines which information receives priority, perception helps process incoming details, and working memory supports the temporary handling of information relevant to ongoing activities. Because these systems are limited, competing tasks can interfere with one another. Their interaction gives researchers a framework for examining why distraction affects performance during learning, communication, driving, and workplace activities.
Researchers can evaluate multitasking by considering changes in reaction time, errors, and mental workload while people handle competing activities or interruptions. These outcomes show whether switching has impaired speed, accuracy, or the effort required to perform. Together, they provide practical evidence for identifying distractions and judging whether an environment supports reliable performance.
Findings support practical strategies such as prioritizing tasks, reducing unnecessary task switching, and managing interruptions. In learning and workplace settings, these approaches can limit competition for attention and working memory, potentially reducing errors and mental workload. The same evidence also informs safer environments where distraction could undermine performance, including communication and driving contexts.