“People who believe they can multitask effectively — say, talk on a cell phone while driving — are the least likely to be able to do so.”
Question: What method did the researchers use to determine “effectiveness” in multitasking?
Reaction: That aligns with my own observations—people who brag about multitasking often seem more distracted.
Idea: Could this relate to overconfidence bias, where we overestimate our abilities?
Comparison: I remember reading that people who use multiple media simultaneously often perform worse on memory tasks. (See media multitasking studies.)
“Chronically multitasking students with inflated estimations of their abilities were the least capable of doing it effectively... those who tended not to multitask were among the top 25 % on the attention test.”
Observation: There’s a clear mismatch between self-perception and actual ability here.
Personal Example: I’m guilty—I often check my phone during work and think I’m efficient, but my productivity drops.
Connection: This suggests that trying to multitask might reduce real performance even if it feels productive.
Outline for the Article
Statement: People who think they’re good multitaskers—like talking on a phone while driving—tend to be the worst at it.
I. Study Methodology
Participants: 277 undergraduates completed the OSPAN (Operation Span) attention test along with surveys on impulsiveness, sensation-seeking, media habits, and phone use while driving.
II. Key Findings
Self-assessment: ~70% rated themselves “above average” at multitasking—a statistical impossibility.
Reality: Students who multitasked more and overestimated their abilities performed worse on attention tests.
Conversely, those who rarely multitasked scored in the top 25% on attention tasks.
Impulsivity linked to multitasking, except for those who talk on phones while driving—here, boredom was a stronger predictor.
III. Implications
Danger: Phone use while driving tied to distraction—estimated to cause 24% of U.S. highway accidents and fatalities.
Behavioral insight: People multitask not because they’re capable, but because they struggle to focus on one thing.
IV. Conclusion
The myth of multitasking is debunked: believing you're good at it doesn't make it true, and the behavior might actually undermine performance and safety.
Summary
In “Think you’re great at multitasking? Think again,” Susan Perry reports on a 2013 MinnPost article describing a study in which undergraduates performed an attention task (OSPAN), completed media-use and impulsivity surveys, and self-assessed their multitasking ability. Despite 70% rating themselves as above-average multitaskers, data showed the opposite: those who multitasked more performed worse, while those who multitasked less scored in the top quartile. Notably, talking on a phone while driving was linked not to impulsiveness, but to boredom, highlighting a focus deficit. The article underscores that multitasking isn’t a skill—it's a performance decrease accompanied by overconfidence, with serious safety implications such as increased risk of traffic accidents.
