What Is Media Multitasking?

Growing up in a generation where technology is at our fingertips, the brain changes its organization and functioning to accommodate the abundance of stimulation forced on it by the modern world. I recognize where Restak’s logic comes from because individuals are so dependent on phones and laptops that it becomes a challenge for people to complete work on their own. People feel as if it is necessary to have an electronic device by their side, tricked into believing multitasking is an acquired skill when in reality the brain is struggling. With the constant use of extra devices, Restak suggests “multitasking”

Multitasking, helpful or harmful? In Alina Tugend’s “Multitasking Can Make You Lose…Um…Focus”, Tugend explores multitasking in several ways. Explaining how we as humans sacrifice focus “shifting focus from task to task gives illusion that we’re simultaneously tasking”. Also, how our brains react to operating and trying to do more than one task at once. Only one or two visual stimulants can activate our neurons at one particular time. Lastly, how we can recreate boundaries and cope with everyday life and multitasking. Tugend reiterates several times the importance of one task at a time so we as humans can effectively complete tasks to the best of our abilities instead of giving partial focus and not efficiently completely a task. Multitasking is very beneficial at times, but more often there are significant downfalls; it is crucial we learn how to manage the downfalls of juggling tasks, events, conversations, and daily events.

In the essay “Multitasking can make you lose … Um … Focus” Alina Tugend exams why multitasking can make you lose focus. Tugend explains what multitasking is in the first section she also explains why it is bad. She then brings in a professor to explain how multitasking works in a scientific way. Alina Tugend then uses case studies to show how multitasking can cause loss of focus and impairment in motor activities. She then shows how multitasking can actually delay your progress on completing projects by constantly switching to different tasks. Tugend then sums it all up by trying to teach us how to better ourselves and to not multitask.

In “Multitasking Can Make You Lose...Um...Focus,” Alina Tugend examines the negative aspects and many disadvantages that occur through multitasking. Tugend begins by stating that multitasking is the norm for today’s fast paced society; however, in reality it is pulling focus from the task at hand. The author continues on to cite various researchers who express that the brain cannot simultaneously do two tasks at once and is actually just flipping back and forth between tasks rapidly. Although multitasking seems like a time efficient method, Tugend reveals, it is actually creating a large amount of stress and pressure on the individual. Furthermore, the author notes that multitasking actually pulls away from the task at hand creating a great time loss. Tugend even goes on to explain that multitasking is proving to be bad for innovation by not allowing an individual to think in depth about one task for an extended period of time. With Tugends article in mind I agree that multitasking puts a lot of stress and pressure on the individual, creates a loss in time, and is awful for innovation.

Multitasking can be characterized as the endeavor to perform at least two errands at the same time; in any case, inquire about demonstrates that when multitasking, individuals commit more errors or play out their undertakings all the more gradually. Consideration must be separated among the greater part of the segment assignments to perform them. In partitioned attention,individuals go to or offer regard for various wellsprings of data on the double in the meantime or perform more than one errand.

Many people take pride in the fact that they can multitask. A study “Task Switching” conducted by Monsell concluded that multitasking, or switching

In this modern era, it has become commonplace to try and accomplish as many tasks as possible as quickly as possible in order to be more efficient. With the help of technology, many believe that multitasking is becoming a required and helpful skill. Multitasking is actually a detrimental habit. Multitasking divides a person's concentration in order to attempt to complete multiple actions. Even though in the end the tasks are all finished, the quality of the finished task and the time required to finish all the tasks makes multitasking very inefficient. In addition, this division of concentration is causing many people to not pay attention. For most, multitasking is a disadvantageous skill that should not be encouraged as a valid

Can you think of the last time you sat down and read a book without watching your favorite show on T.V. , or when you last cooked dinner without texting on your phone at the same time? It is almost impossible to live our day to day lives without multitasking. Seen as a quicker, more efficient way to get things done, and giving people the sense of being superhuman, multitasking may not be as beneficial as we think. Is multitasking beneficial, and are we shrinking our brain’s by taking on more than one task at a time? Defined in the online article Multitasking The Cognitive Costs of Multitasking, multitasking is “performing two or more tasks simultaneously, switching back and forth from one thing to another, involves performing a number of tasks

Multitasking is a common technique used by most people that is thought to be a way of getting tasks done quicker. With the need for speed in today’s society there is more that has to be done in a minimal time. But what people do not realize is that when they cram their work into a limited amount of time, it can backfire altogether. Within this paper will be an explanation of the negative side effects that may come with multitasking such as stress, physical health problems, and frequently making mistakes.

Sana, Weston, & Cepeda (2013), Laptop multitasking hinders learning for both users and nearby peers. Computers & Education 62 (2013): 24-31.

Studies are constantly being conducted by psychologists on the effects of multitasking and the majority of experiments have come to show that the act of multitasking is negative for our cognitive development. However, numerous

Was the e-mail spell-checked? Was that a vitamin or an aspirin? Did Tommy remember his lunch? While multitasking became popular toward the end of the last century, experiments of its veracity date back to the 1930s. Research shows that multitasking often leaves practitioners feeling more anxious than accomplished (Alexopoulou & Kotsopoulou, 2015). The cognitive ability to actually perform competent work in half the time causes stress, both psychologically and physically, and creates a bottleneck in the brain. Multitasking causes a person unnecessary stress, creates self esteem issues, and results in subpar work.

We often encounter distractions all around in our daily lives. Our attention is divided between different tasks, which make it difficult to focus. The internet plays an important role in distracting individuals to focus the mind and sustain concentration. According to Nicholas Carr, “When we 're constantly distracted and interrupted, as we tend to be online, our brains are unable to forge the strong and expansive neural connections that give depth and distinctiveness to our thinking.”(Carr 224). The internet plays an important role in why it is difficult for individuals to focus the mind and sustain concentration. The internet has many distractions that can often lead us to multitasks and not fully focus on one task. For example, I have seemed students in class using their laptops not for education purposes but searching

Hook: Everyone thinks that multitasking is good for the brain and that everyone should want that skill. Well unfortunately studies proven by scientist at the institute in Paris Santé et de la Recherche Médication found that the brain splits into two, basically splitting the attention. It was said that at the most someone can do two things at once depending on the ease of the tasks. The reason being for this is due to the two frontal lobes of the brain designed to help someone with tasks.

Multitasking is becoming very significant on the workplace to complete the task in less time. In fact, some people believe that multitasking saves time and can be done at all together. On the other hand, some people think that it is a distracting activity which leads to a lack of concentration. According to David Silverman, “In Defense of Multitasking”, multitasking is “crucial to survival in today’s workplace” (522). However, I do not agree because multitasking reduces productivity, increases stress levels and it is, especially, problematic for students.