How many things can you do simultaneously? Most people think they’re great multitaskers. But are they really?
In an episode of TV show Brain Games, called “Pay attention”, Professor David Strayer explains how his research has shown that in general, people aren’t the multitasking experts they believe they are.
Brain Games put the idea of multitasking to the test by challenging Petrus Venter, a businessman who believes he can do multiple things at once while doing them effectively, to a series of experiments involving multitasking while driving.
And the results? Petrus was unable to hold a phone conversation, remember what was being asked of him and drive through an obstacle course effectively. He could not perform simple cognitive processes and navigate through a course at the same time. Petrus received an average score, which is, in fact, shocking, because on average people fail the test. Strayer’s research has proven that people simply aren’t wired to multitask at all! The test doesn’t prove that you can’t do a few things simultaneously, it challenges how well you can do them. Which is, the true test of multitasking.
If your focus is divided between two tasks, you’re not doing either task well enough and when one of those tasks is driving, in which safety is key, multitasking can be very dangerous.
Multitasking and driving
- Strayer has shown that people can’t actually process two activities at the same time. The act of multitasking in fact involves deactivating focus on one task to switch to another and so on. To deactivate your focus from the act of driving puts you at a greater risk of either causing or contributing to an accident
- When you multitask you process information slower, which will delay your reaction time while driving.
We live fast paced lives which have driven us to juggle many activities at once, just to make it through the day. While this may not be our fault, it’s no excuse when we’re on the road. So save multitasking for activities that don’t require singular focus. Make sure that when you get into a car, your only focus is on the road in front of you.
Watch this episode of Brain Games for more understanding of attention, distraction and multitasking.