Many University students commonly multi-task, using a computer to engage in multiple activities at the same time. However, some
University professors say multi-tasking is not entirely productive.
“We know that multi-tasking has a cost. It has a true … performance cost,” psychology professor Ulrich Mayr said.
Junior multimedia design major Eric Beltran said when he uses a computer, he usually has three or four applications open at the same time: homework, e-mail, AOL Instant Messenger and sometimes a game such as Minesweeper.
“Yeah, really, it slows down my homework,” Beltran said. “I guess I’m just easily distracted, and there are distractions available on the computer.”
Computer and information science assistant professor Anthony Hornof researches human-computer interaction at the University.
“As soon as the computer starts giving you tasks and you start accepting tasks from the computer, people start thinking they can
handle more distractions than they really can,” Hornof said.
Hornof said awareness of computer distractions is continually increasing. While e-mail spam was once considered easy to delete, it is now recognized by the U.S. Congress as an enormous problem for worker productivity, he said.
Hornof’s research also illustrates that online banner advertisements can be a distraction.
“My research shows that it’s true people do not remember the content of the banner ads, but they still slow you down,” Hornof said.
Mayr researches the amount of time it takes people to switch between tasks. In the studies, people perform simple computer tasks,
related to the colors and shapes of objects, in a certain order.
“If you go from task A to task B, you actually have to suppress in your mind task A,” Mayr said. “The bottom line is, it can be really hard for people to switch back and forth between a limited number of tasks because you have to suppress a task, and it takes you longer to get back to it.”
But multi-tasking, on some level, is an unavoidable part of life.
“Some multi-tasking activities
are crucial, such as being able to follow a lecture and take notes at the same time,” Hornof said. “Students tend to be very good at this particular multi-tasking activity.”
However, some types of multi-tasking are more problematic than others.
Mayr said the more similar the two tasks are, the more difficult it is to do them at the same time. He gave the example of a person trying simultaneously to drive a car to one place while talking on a cell phone and giving someone directions to a different place.
“You can’t use spatial representation more than once, so you’re either giving your friend faulty directions, or you’re not able to navigate well in your car,” Mayr said.
Hornof, also using the example of combining cell phone use and driving, said speaking and mental processes of navigation are both controlled by the phonological loop, the voice inside one’s head, and attempting to use the phonological loop for two different purposes at the same time can cause problems.
Mayr said when a person is talking on a cell phone about something other than navigation while driving, the effect is less than the combination of two spatial tasks, but still noticeable.
“In the end effect, you will have less focus on either one of the two,” Mayr said.
Computers pose a special challenge for people multi-tasking.
“This constant decision-making — am I going to stay focused or not? — has a very heavy cost,” Mayr said. In the case of e-mail alerts, he suggested that computer users who need to improve their productivity turn off e-mail alerts and set a specific time each day to check their e-mail.
“I think that, in general, computers and the interfaces need to get simpler, more minimalist, … less in your face,” Hornof said.
However, he emphasized that computers are not entirely at fault
for the diminished productivity that
multi-tasking causes.
“Ultimately the responsibility is on the user to develop their ability to focus on one task at a time if they really mean to be productive in each one of those tasks,” Hornof said. “Improved focus can be achieved through activities such as meditation, yoga and turning off instant messaging.”

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