Myth Busters: Can Humans Multitask?

Replying to an email, while listening to one of your favourite Podcasts, in addition to checking twitter to see what's new, all while working on an assignment. 

You are effectively multitasking, but... Did you reply to that email quickly? Are you understanding that podcast? Did you scroll through twitter to accomplish what you needed? And how is that assignment going?  

The Multitasking Myth

Along with the idea of the digital native, is the idea (or myth) that this new generation of digital natives is skilled in multitasking. Multitasking is the ability to process two or more tasks simultaneously. I think multitasking is a skill people like to say they have, I always thought I was pretty good at multitasking. However, after some reflection on Kirschner and Bruyckere's "The myths of digital native and the multitasker," I am not sure I would describe myself as 'multitasker' anymore. 

Kirschner and Bruyckere argue that multitasking for a human is not possible since the brain is like a single-core computer, only able to process one task at a time. Instead, they suggest that humans display 'threaded cognition'  or 'task-switching' where we switch between tasks quickly. Have you ever been having a conversation about dinner while composing a text or email and a word or two from your conversation gets accidentally transcribed by your brain?

 ...The digital native is one to understand cooking... 

This happens to me all the time. It makes sense in this instance that, rather than describing the above scenario as processing a conversation while simultaneously composing a text, the brain was carrying out two tasks or partial tasks in quick succession. 

When I am task-switching, I tend to take a long time to complete any one thing on my list, because I am doing multiple things because my brain is thinking of multiple things at once. However, lately I have been choosing one item or task on my list and setting a timer where I only focus on that one chosen task, no texting, no checking social media, no task switching. When I use this strategy, I feel that I am able to complete it faster because my attention is only on one task.  I use an app called Tide that allows you to set focus timers and has an option to play calming ocean waves or other sounds during the timer. I have been using this app frequently since starting my summer courses and it has been helping.  

Task-Switching and Attention 

So what is the role of attention in threaded cognition and task-switching? These terms remind me of the 'cocktail party effect' that I learned about during my psychology minor. It's the phenomenon that describes the brain's ability to focus its attention to the conversation that you are engaged in and zone out the 'cocktail party' or conversations and noise around you. This involves selective attention, tuning out the noise to focus on the a particular stimuli. Talking is more automatic than a task that demands more cognition, however, I believe selective attention is involved in switching. When I am trying to carry out a task (like writing a blog), I find it hard to practice selective attention and will usually need headphones or instrumental music to help me drown out external stimulus. There are some individuals who are quite skilled at selective attention and can block out the 'noise' to focus their attention on a task quite easily. 

Task-switching involves dividing your attention between tasks. It has been shown that fast switching between tasks, when compared to completing a single task at once, leads to poorer learning in students and poorer performance on the tasks being carried out. 

So, can humans multitask? I believe they cannot. Instead, I think by using the word "multitasking," we really mean task-switching, which divides our attention. I believe task-switching has become more commonplace in our environments (personal, work and learning), particularly when we are using technology. 

What do you think? How often do you task-switch? Are you more efficient when you task-switch or focus on a singular task?