"For many, multitasking—checking emails, text messaging and Facebooking simultaneously—is a highly-valued practice. However, research conducted by Stanford University professor Clifford Nass, Ph.D., and his colleagues finds that consistently juggling multiple, unrelated tasks greatly reduces the ability to focus on critical tasks such as reading and writing.
'High media multitasking is bad,' said Nass, during his lecture at California State University, Northridge’s third annual Technology Fair.
Nass discussed 'Media Multitasking: How it’s Changing You and Your Students' at the May 29 event hosted by the Division of Information Technology in the University Student Union’s Grand Salon. His lecture elaborated on laboratory and field experimental studies conducted by Stanford researchers that started in 2009 and continues today. The research found that people who regularly engaged with multiple forms of unrelated electronic information have difficulty maintaining focus, memorizing relevant content or switching from one job to another as well as those who complete one or related tasks at a time. He suggested that students and staff can enhance their performance if they limit high levels of multitasking."
Read more of this story at CSUN Today or visit the Technology Fair webpage.
