Does Multitasking Impair Studying? Depends on Timing

Abstract

It is often said that contemporary students frequently study while 'multitasking'. However, this rather diffuse term encompasses situations that vary as to the whether the learner controls the pace at which educational materials are provided. On the basis of prior cognitive research, we hypothesize that this may well be a critical determinant of interference. Three studies required students to read or listen to several short historical narratives and also to engage in five to eight very short conversations (akin to an instant messaging conversation). In Experiment 1, subjects read the narratives; here, multitasking marginally increased total time spent reading the narratives, especially when it occurred at random times. However, final memory for the narratives was not significantly affected. Similar results were obtained when the narratives were presented in audio format and the learner could pause them while conversing (Experiment 2). By contrast, when audio narratives did not pause, interruptions reduced comprehension performance (Experiment 3).

The study strategies of small liberal arts college students before and after COVID-19

“…Although most students (90%) reported that they believed multitasking made their studying less effective, a majority of students (84%) also reported using at least one of the common multitasking behaviors. This pattern is nearly identical to that reported in prior research [ 38 ]. The most common multitasking behaviors were listening to music while studying (60%) and communicating via phone (42%).…”

“…Similar to Pashler and colleagues’ [ 38 ] findings, our survey reported that 84% of students multitask while studying despite 90% of students recognizing that their studying would be more efficient without it. This discrepancy between what students believe should be effective and what they actually do suggests further education or outreach about how to study might not be helpful.…”

Effects of interruption on eye movements and comprehension during reading on digital devices

“…This result is contrary to our expectations because the very aim of constructing questions that targeted the interrupted information was to observe an impairment of comprehension performance. In this, our study continues in the line of research which has shown no effect of interruptions on comprehension (Bowman et al, 2010;Cane et al, 2012;Cho et al, 2015;Fox et al, 2008;Glanzer et al, 1984;McNamara & Kintsch, 1996;Oulasvirta & Saariluoma, 2006;Pashler et al, 2013). Two explanations may account for these observations.…”

“…If reading is interrupted by a mail application then participants increase their reading time. However, no impairment in the comprehension of the information present in the text is observed (Bowman et al, 2010;Fox et al, 2008;Pashler et al, 2013). These works therefore also agree with the predictions of LTWM theory.…”

Effect of Multitasking on Simulator Sickness and Performance in 3D Aerodrome Control Training

“…Instructional implications of multitasking have been studied in the literature, which revealed that concurrent multitasking with mobile phones during lectures interfered with the effectiveness of learning gains (Ellis, Daniels, & Jauregui, 2010). Similar findings were observed in terms of laptop use in classroom (Sana, Weston, & Cepeda, 2013), online messaging during instruction (Pashler, Kang, & Ip, 2013) or during problem solving activities (Lingbei, 2008). However, many of these examples are cases where relevant and irrelevant tasks are executed simultaneously.…”