Can use of technology improve multitasking?
Alzahabi & Becker (2013) compared the abilities of heavy and light digital media multitaskers. They found no differences in ability to perform two tasks simultaneously, however heavy media multitaskers were quicker at task-switching. Ophir, Nass and Wagner (2009) found the opposite: heavy media multitaskers were more vulnerable to distractions from irrelevant information which made them less efficient. In either case cognitive differences are not necessarily caused by use of technology, as the heavy multitaskers may simply have had a preference for multitasking due to preexisting cognitive tendencies.
Multitasking ability is associated with working memory capacity (Colom et al. 2010), but Hambrick et al. (2010) also found that independent of working memory, people with more videogame experience were better at multitasking. Chiappe et al. (2013) used videogame training to increase attentional capacity to do two tasks at once. Dye, Green and Bavelier (2009) found young videogamers had better visual attention capacities than non videogame players the same age, though as Boot at al (2008) pointed out, this might be because people who play games had better attentional control in the first place. However Donohue et al. (2012) and Gaspar et al. (2014) did not find that young adult videogamers were any better at dividing attention in a simulation of a real world task. Overall these findings suggest that technology use in the form of videogames correlates with, and may even cause, better multitasking, however very few ‘digital native’ students play videogames (Thompson 2013), and older age groups may play more, so are younger people actually better at multitasking? If videogames can improve multitasking, could old videogamers be better at multitasking?
Multitasking ability is associated with working memory capacity (Colom et al. 2010), but Hambrick et al. (2010) also found that independent of working memory, people with more videogame experience were better at multitasking. Chiappe et al. (2013) used videogame training to increase attentional capacity to do two tasks at once. Dye, Green and Bavelier (2009) found young videogamers had better visual attention capacities than non videogame players the same age, though as Boot at al (2008) pointed out, this might be because people who play games had better attentional control in the first place. However Donohue et al. (2012) and Gaspar et al. (2014) did not find that young adult videogamers were any better at dividing attention in a simulation of a real world task. Overall these findings suggest that technology use in the form of videogames correlates with, and may even cause, better multitasking, however very few ‘digital native’ students play videogames (Thompson 2013), and older age groups may play more, so are younger people actually better at multitasking? If videogames can improve multitasking, could old videogamers be better at multitasking?