Apr 16 2012
Multitasking – Can You Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time?
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I can’t think of a practical task that involves integrating multiple sensory inputs. So I’m still thinking the HMM is at a distinct disadvantage to the LLM.
I think I am an LLM, because I feel so slow and stupid when I try to multi-task compared to “these young kids today.”
I’m surprised to learn that those who I would guess to be HHM are actually not good at mutlitaksing. I perceive them to be so. They perceive themselves to be so. They spend so much time taking in 3 or 4 media inputs at a time, that it seems like they would be entirely non-functional if they weren’t good at it.
I also think that as I age, I am getting far worse at multi tasking media options. I can no longer even listen to music and read. And I used to do that constantly in my teens and 20′s.
“I’m surprised to learn that those who I would guess to be HHM are actually not good at mutlitaksing. I perceive them to be so. They perceive themselves to be so.”
That last sentence is important. It appears that people are often unaware of how poorly they accomplish tasks while multitasking. I find this very strange, because it seems very obvious to me. Then again this may be because I am a person who enjoys focusing on topics, one at a time. Only recently have I been shifting to the HMM lifestyle.
Well while I was watching the telly and eating my dinner I happened to glance at this blog report from my facebook recommendations whilst sending birthday greetings to my friends reminders. Thinking that it was about time I retrieved the hoover from wherever I had used it last, and put on the washing machine so that I had clean clothes for my important interview tomorrow, I had a little time to reflect again on what Dr. Novella was trying to say. But then I was distracted….
Are women really better multitaskers?
SARA wrote:
Am I misunderstanding you here, or have you never driven a car?
# Rikki-Tikki-Tavi – Navigating Traffic. Of course. Why didn’t I think of that?
On your other thought, I would not imagine that there would be a difference between men and women in multi-tasking (or multi-tasking interference, more accurately), is there a study that shows it is possible?
There are times when I’m working on a problem and then take a break to work on another task. After working on the other task for a while, sometimes I will think of the solution to the problem I was previously working on even though I wasn’t consciously thinking about it. We must be using cognitive resources for both tasks, so it seems we are capable of true multi-tasking (beyond automatic behaviors), but to expand on the computer metaphor, we can only have one task in the foreground at a time.
I have known this personally for a while now. I was once self deluded into thinking I could multitask effectively.
Nowadays I just focus on one topic to the exclusion of others when I need to get it done and done well. If I do multitask, or HMM, I do so knowing that no task I am doing will be done as well, that it will take me longer, and I prioritize which task I want/need to have more attention towards.
Like right this moment my girlfriend will be starting up a movie and I will be reading some lectures on orthopedics. I know my reading will suffer, but I don’t want to be an orthopod, so I accept it. However, I need to retain most of it, so it will get the majority of my attention and whatever movie she puts on will essentially remain unwatched for me.
#Sara & Rikki-Tikki-Tavi — driving a car is a great example because it also involves automaticity. In heavy traffic, attention is devoted to which car is trying to plow into yours, while on a rural interstate attention can be devoted to scenery or cows. Or trying to figure out if that car up ahead is highway patrol.
For me, any competing sensory input involving words is more distracting. I can read while some bland instrumental music is playing, but have never (even in my teen years) been able to read when lyrics are involved. This applies to lyrics I know even if the version I’m hearing is instrumental.
I absolutely abhor the placement of TVs tuned to news or talk shows in public areas where I have to wait (hospital and doctor waiting rooms and airports specifically). I’ve always got a book with me that I’d rather read. It’s quite easy for me to tune out the buzz of multiple normal conversations.
This is (one reason) why I don’t think I would be a good police officer even though I think I’m a decent driver. I’d be overwhelmed trying to listen to the scanner and look for specific things like somebody wearing a mask running away from a bank. You probably wouldn’t want someone like me piloting aircraft either.
Dang, I’m feeling sort of useless now :/
Theres only 1 thing that can truly be multi-tasked, and thats kicking ass and chewing bubble gum, unless you are out of bubble gum
A couple of things come to mind about this subject. The first is that there was a study several years ago (sorry no access to it at the moment and can’t remember the precise details), that essentially demonstrated that students perform better on exams when they write the exam under the same type of conditions in which they studied for them.
I was teaching a course at the time and remember joking with colleagues that this suggested that we should test students while they are highly fatigued, caffeine loaded, with music blasting from the classroom speakers. In alll seriousness, however, this study of HMMs vs LMMs would suggest something similar. Students who study for exams while checking Facebook, email, and listening to music would seem likely to perform less well on exams than those who can (and do) study in a quiet environment – regardless of whether they know the material equally well.
The other thought has to do with the issue of the automaticity that takes over for higher cognitive functions: the fact that we can perform some functions while on ‘automatic’ doesn’t mean that we necessarily perform our best that way. In professional sports, for example, players must raise their level of attention via anxiety or becoming hyped up by coaches etc in order to overcome the tendency to play on automatic. They need to intentionally overcome that well-rehearsed automaticity so they can give a great performance. So, automaticity likely has a significant downside when the quality of the performance is critical.
I kept waiting for some mention of cell phones and driving. I am stunned/freaked/scared at the number of people I see who still drive, and talk, or even fiddle with their devices. We have simulator data that says using a cell phone significantly impairs driving, but we don’t seem to yet have a lot of real world crash data correlated to device use.
very good point RichWilson.
That is why I think that hands free laws are asinine. The issue is not the fact that you can’t drive one handed. Or that it is incredibly complex to simply hold a phone to your head. The issue is that the content of the call is quite distracting from driving.
Of course, for an average mundane call, I think there isn’t much issue. The automaticity of driving lends itself well to that. Most likely you will just go on “auto-pilot” and drive home instead of the store, if anything at all. However, if the conversation is intense, complex, emotional, etc… then it is indeed quite dangerous.
But nothing is quite as dangerous as texting and driving. Thankfully my phone takes dictation and sends texts/emails by voice command.
“That is why I think that hands free laws are asinine. The issue is not the fact that you can’t drive one handed. Or that it is incredibly complex to simply hold a phone to your head. The issue is that the content of the call is quite distracting from driving.”
Of course they are nonsensical, but it allows politicians to look like they are doing something about a problem. Banning cell phones altogether would appear to be extreme by the average person.
I disagree that the average mundane call is not problematic. I agree that intense conversations are worse, but even mundane calls will slow reaction time enough to make a big difference… its not so much about going the wrong route as it is: not stopping in time if traffic ahead stops quickly, or if a car pulls out in front of you suddenly, or if a kid runs into the road.
“But nothing is quite as dangerous as texting and driving. Thankfully my phone takes dictation and sends texts/emails by voice command.”
One side effect of cracking down in this is that people will text below the line of sight of the road so their phones are not seen by other drivers (police). This eliminates the possibility of identifying danger with their peripheral vision. I’m not saying that texting higher up so that you can “see” the road is a good thing, I just wonder if it is now worse
The irony was not at all lost on me that I was reading this blog post at the same time as studying for my biology exam
Would it be more accurate to refer to what most people call multitasking as multiplexing?
So we are all shutting the door on our ability to multi-task? I think we are forgetting about the brains ability to respond to training. I cannot see why plasticity with learning to do two things at once would be any different to the changes the brain takes after reaching expertise in single task skills.
Granted, learning to do two things at once, depending on what they are may take alot of practice. but look at the walking and chewing gum example; we are all conceding that we can do these automatically, but then saying that this is only because they utilise subcortical areas. Well ofcourse – we’ve done it since we were very young, and therefore had a lot of practice. its been shown that once a task reaches automaticity that we sub-cortical areas become more involved in chunking motor sequences.