Critical Reading Notes (Dialogue with the Article)
Article Title: Think you’re great at multitasking? Think again
Author: Susan Perry
Source: MinnPost, 2013
Format: Notes referencing specific parts of the article
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🔵 Paragraph 1: “A new study from George Mason University… writing assignments.”
🟢 My Comment: This paragraph introduces the main study that supports the article’s argument. I wonder if the students’ skill levels or prior experience with multitasking were factored in. Could some people be better at it than others?
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🔵 Paragraph 2: “The students were interrupted randomly… scored them for both quality and quantity.”
🟢 My Comment: The design sounds solid, but I question whether being interrupted every 5 minutes reflects real-life multitasking. Many people choose when to switch tasks, rather than being interrupted randomly.
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🔵 Paragraph 3: “The students who were interrupted… produced lower-quality essays.”
🟢 My Comment: This supports the common argument that multitasking reduces performance. However, I’m curious about the margin—how much worse were the essays? Was it a major or minor difference?
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🔵 Paragraph 4: “The participants didn’t notice how poorly they were performing.”
🟢 My Comment: This is important. It shows that people may believe they’re effective multitaskers when they’re not. I relate this to personal experience: I often feel productive when multitasking, but results sometimes say otherwise.
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🔵 Paragraph 5: “In an accompanying commentary… just how damaging interruptions can be.”
🟢 My Comment: The fact that professionals in psychology and communication warn about multitasking confirms the article’s argument. It adds credibility. I’d like to read more about why people believe they're good at multitasking despite evidence to the contrary.
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🔵 Final Thoughts:
🟢 Overall Impression: The article is persuasive and uses a specific, recent study to back its claims. It made me rethink how I handle tasks and reminded me that focusing on one task at a time may save more time in the long run, even if multitasking feels efficient.
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Summary of the Second Article
In her article “Think you’re great at multitasking? Think again”, Susan Perry discusses a study by George Mason University that found multitasking significantly reduces both the quality and quantity of students’ work. The study involved students being interrupted with unrelated tasks while writing essays. Those who were interrupted wrote less and performed worse, yet were unaware of their lower performance. Perry concludes that multitasking is harmful, especially for complex tasks, and that people often overestimate their ability to do it effectively.
