I KNEW IT! The New York Times Sunday August 30, 2009 edition confirmed what many educators have been, for years, trying to tell people ~ especially their students. In an article entitled "The Mediocre Multitasker" the results of a recent Standford University Study are reported. The first paragraph states,
Read it and gloat. Last week, researchers at Standford University published a study showing that the most persistent multitaskers perform badly in a variety of tasks. They don't focus as well as non-multitaskers. They're more distractible. They'er weaker at shifting from one task to another and at organizing information. They are, as a matter of fact, worse at multitasking than people who don't normally multitask.
Read it and gloat. Last week, researchers at Standford University published a study showing that the most persistent multitaskers perform badly in a variety of tasks. They don't focus as well as non-multitaskers. They're more distractible. They'er weaker at shifting from one task to another and at organizing information. They are, as a matter of fact, worse at multitasking than people who don't normally multitask.
Later in the article a professor is quoted,
Multitaskers were just lousy at everything, said Clifford I. Nass, a professor of communication at Stanford and one of the the study's investigators. It was a complete and total shock to me.
Nass is later quoted as saying,
"The core of the problem", Professor Nass said, is that the multitaskers "think they're great at what they do: and they've convinced everybody else, they're good at it, too."
The study's lead investigator is quoted as saying,
We kept looking for multitaskers' advantages in this study. But we kept finding only disadvantages. We thought multitaskers were very much in control of information. It turns out, they were just getting it all confused.
I have only two thoughts to add:
Multitaskers were just lousy at everything, said Clifford I. Nass, a professor of communication at Stanford and one of the the study's investigators. It was a complete and total shock to me.
Nass is later quoted as saying,
"The core of the problem", Professor Nass said, is that the multitaskers "think they're great at what they do: and they've convinced everybody else, they're good at it, too."
The study's lead investigator is quoted as saying,
We kept looking for multitaskers' advantages in this study. But we kept finding only disadvantages. We thought multitaskers were very much in control of information. It turns out, they were just getting it all confused.
I have only two thoughts to add:
- Why was Nass shocked to find lousy performance by the multitaskers? Seems to me that "focus" is a necessity to comprehension. The choice the multitasker is making is obvious to me. Do one task well or do poorly two or more simultaneously. Common sense.
- As a follow-up study some academic should investigate the ethical considerations from both the individual and societal point of view. In my view carrying on a conversation while "multitasking" (texting, answering cell phones, playing video games, etc.) is disrespectful and impolite to the other member of the supposed conversation.
Mike Wagoner and Sadie at Priest Lake illustrate a parent's view on this topic.
We used to listen to Mike Wagoner and his then wife Tammy sing and play at Priest Lake's Elkins' Resort on New Year's Eve. Mike and Sadie have been at the lake this year singing at various Lake venues. Sadie, who is now older, I believe, than she was in this video, has the talent possessed by her parents.
My rant for the day. Thanks for listening.
Gordon, et.al
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