Peoplewhomultitaskallthetimemaybetheworstatdoingtwothingsatonceanewresearchsuggests.Thefindingsbasedonperformancesandself-evaluationbyabout275collegestudentsindicatethatmanypeoplemultitasknotoutofadesiretoincreaseproductivitybutbecausetheyareeasilydistractedandcan’tfocusononeactivity.And“thosepeopleturnouttobetheworstathandlingdifferentthings”saidDavidSanbonmatsuapsychologistattheUniversityofUtah.
Sanbonmatsuandhiscolleaguesgavethestudentsasetoftestsandaskedthemtoreporthowoftentheymultitaskedhowgoodtheythoughttheywereatitandhowsensation-seeking(寻求刺激)orimperative(冲动)theywere.Theythenevaluatedtheparticipants’multitaskingabilitywithatrickymentaltaskthatrequiredthestudentstodosimplemathematicalcalculationswhilerememberingasetofletters.
Notsurprisinglythescientistssaidmostpeoplethoughttheywerebetterthanaverageatmultitaskingandthosewhothoughttheywerebetteratitweremorelikelytoreportusingacellphonewhiledrivingorviewingmultiplekindsofmediaatonce.Butthosewhofrequentlydealwithmanythingsatthesametimewerefoundtoperformtheworstattheactualmultitaskingtest.Theyalsoweremorelikelytoadmittosensation-seekingandimpulsivebehaviorwhichconnectswithhoweasilypeoplegetboredanddistracted.
“Peoplemultitasknotbecauseit’sgoingtoleadtogreaterproductivitybutbecausethey’redistractibleandtheygetsuckedintothingsthatarenotasimportant.”Sanbonmatsusaid.
AdamGazzaleyaresearcherattheUniversityofCaliforniaSanFranciscowhowasnotamemberoftheresearchgroupsaidonelimitationofthestudywasthatitcouldn’tfindoutwhetherpeoplewhostartoutlessfocusedtendtowardmultitaskingorwhetherpeople’srecognizingandunderstandingabilitieschangeasaresultofmultitasking.
Thefindingsdosuggesthoweverwhythesensation-seekerwhomultitaskthemostmayenjoyriskydistracteddriving.“Peoplewhoaremultitaskingaregenerallylesssensitivetoriskysituations.”saidPaulAtchleyanotherresearchernotinthegroup.“Thismaypartlyexplainwhypeoplegoinforthesesituationseventhoughthey’redangerous.”
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