The present study examined whether personality characteristics and general intelligence predict multitasking performance. The Multi-Attribute Task Battery-II was used to assess multitasking performance. Personality factors included the Big Five, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The results indicated scores on general intelligence predict performance on the tracking task of the Multi-Attribute Task Battery-II, where higher scores of general intelligence predicted improved tracking performance. Additionally, conscientiousness and neuroticism were found to predict worsened performance on the resource management task of the Multi-Attribute Task Battery-II. Furthermore, agreeableness was found to predict perceived workload on the mental demand subscale of the Workload Rating Scale.

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The current study examined whether individual differences in memory, attention, and visuospatial ability are significant predictors of multitasking ability (multitasking performance baseline level) and multitasking adaptability (the capacity to adapt to dynamic changes in task demands). Participants were administered a neuropsychological battery to measure individual differences in cognitive abilities. Then, participants performed the Multi-Attribute Task Battery-II (MATB) comprising of three workload conditions. Results indicated that participants scoring higher on measures of attention performed better on the MATB during the baseline condition (ability). However, higher scores on measures of delayed memory predicted better performance during more demanding MATB conditions (adaptability), while visuospatial ability predicted worsened performance during more demanding MATB conditions. Additionally, higher global neuropsychological functioning predicted better MATB performance during all conditions.