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Published on: August 29, 2018
Cognitive control in media multitaskers
Eyal Ophir1, Clifford Nass, Anthony D Wagner
1Symbolic Systems Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2050, USA.
Summary
Heavy media multitaskers struggle with cognitive control, showing increased susceptibility to interference and poorer task-switching abilities compared to light media multitaskers. This indicates a distinct information processing style associated with chronic media multitasking.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Media psychology
- Human-computer interaction
Background:
- Chronic media multitasking is prevalent, posing challenges to human cognitive processing.
- Understanding cognitive differences between heavy and light media multitaskers is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate systematic differences in information processing styles between heavy and light media multitaskers.
- To compare cognitive control dimensions in these distinct groups.
Main Methods:
- Development of a trait media multitasking index to categorize participants.
- Comparison of heavy and light media multitaskers on cognitive control measures.
- Assessment of susceptibility to interference and task-switching abilities.
Main Results:
- Heavy media multitaskers exhibited greater susceptibility to interference from irrelevant environmental stimuli and memory representations.
- Heavy media multitaskers performed worse on task-switching tests.
- Reduced ability to filter out irrelevant task sets likely contributed to poorer task-switching performance.
Conclusions:
- Chronic media multitasking is associated with a distinct cognitive processing style.
- Heavy media multitaskers demonstrate impaired cognitive control, particularly in filtering interference.
- This research highlights the cognitive implications of a widespread societal trend.
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