I recently subscribed to List25 and this post hit my reader earlier this morning:
25 Things Psychology Tells You About Yourself
#20 validated something I've always believed, namely that people really can't multi-task. From the article:
We know, you are a professional multi-tasker. Unfortunately, if you really believe that, you are also overly self confident, because the truth of the matter is that humans cannot multi-task. At least not in the sense of the term that we often use. While you can certainly walk around while talking to your friend, your brain can only focus on one higher level function at a time, which means you cannot be thinking about two things at once.
While it doesn't qualify as a "pet peeve" of mine, it's always slightly annoyed me to hear people say that. I think I'm fairly capable of performing multiple tasks, but I've always known I can do only one thing at a time. For example, I can build something out of wood, but there's no way I...or anyone else...could cut out the pieces, sand them and nail them together all at the same time.
I've never heard a man saying he can multi-task - it's always been women who have said it. (and I'm not picking on the fairer sex here, just stating something from my own experience) I think these women who say this confuse their ability to juggle tasks - go from one to another with ease- with the true definition of multi-tasking. I think women have superior organizational skills and can accomplish more in a shorter time than can men, but that's not multi-tasking.
The first time I ever heard the term used was by an old classmate who lived nearby me a few years ago. We were both going back to school at the time and I used to go over and visit her and her family. She would be "studying" with the TV on all the while yelling at her kids for being kids. I mentioned to her that she really needed a quiet place to study and she replied that she was an excellent multi-tasker and could handle it.
She failed several courses that semester and had to take them over.
I forget what show I saw it on, but they did a hidden camera study of people sitting down to eat in a restaurant. They filled the nearby tables with other people talking about all sorts of things: behind the test subjects was a couple where the guy was breaking up with the girl, at another table were two women talking about the affairs they were having and at another table were some people talking about a crime they were going to commit. They all had been instructed to talk in low voices but loud enough to be overheard by the test subjects.
One of the tests featured a couple, a man and his wife. The woman was trying her best to hear all the controversial talk and was getting frantic and her food was untouched. She whispered to her husband "Did you hear that?" The man looked up from shoveling food in his mouth and grunted "Huh?" He said he had heard the couple talking about breaking up and decided it was none of his business so he tuned them out and went back to eating.
The gist of the study was that people can TRY to do several things at once but it won't work. In fact, when they do try, they can't do even one thing very well. Cases in point: I wonder how many automobile accidents have been caused by the driver talking on a cell phone, changing the radio station or lighting a cigarette? I was reading an article about the Autobahn in Germany, the no speed limit super highway and that most German cars (for sale in Germany) don't have cup holders because they know that driving should be the sole focus of the driver. (I don't know if that's true...just because I read it on the 'net doesn't make it so, but it makes a lot of sense)
Multi-tasking - ain't no such thing.
The rest of the article is interesting and I urge you to read it. Something else I've always known is #6:
You can sustain a high level of attention for approximately 10 minutes
The operative word is "approximately". I think that 10 minute time is generous for most men. I know it is for me.
UPDATE:
This was a featured article on my Yahoo start page this morning:
25 Things Psychology Tells You About Yourself
#20 validated something I've always believed, namely that people really can't multi-task. From the article:
We know, you are a professional multi-tasker. Unfortunately, if you really believe that, you are also overly self confident, because the truth of the matter is that humans cannot multi-task. At least not in the sense of the term that we often use. While you can certainly walk around while talking to your friend, your brain can only focus on one higher level function at a time, which means you cannot be thinking about two things at once.
While it doesn't qualify as a "pet peeve" of mine, it's always slightly annoyed me to hear people say that. I think I'm fairly capable of performing multiple tasks, but I've always known I can do only one thing at a time. For example, I can build something out of wood, but there's no way I...or anyone else...could cut out the pieces, sand them and nail them together all at the same time.
I've never heard a man saying he can multi-task - it's always been women who have said it. (and I'm not picking on the fairer sex here, just stating something from my own experience) I think these women who say this confuse their ability to juggle tasks - go from one to another with ease- with the true definition of multi-tasking. I think women have superior organizational skills and can accomplish more in a shorter time than can men, but that's not multi-tasking.
The first time I ever heard the term used was by an old classmate who lived nearby me a few years ago. We were both going back to school at the time and I used to go over and visit her and her family. She would be "studying" with the TV on all the while yelling at her kids for being kids. I mentioned to her that she really needed a quiet place to study and she replied that she was an excellent multi-tasker and could handle it.
She failed several courses that semester and had to take them over.
I forget what show I saw it on, but they did a hidden camera study of people sitting down to eat in a restaurant. They filled the nearby tables with other people talking about all sorts of things: behind the test subjects was a couple where the guy was breaking up with the girl, at another table were two women talking about the affairs they were having and at another table were some people talking about a crime they were going to commit. They all had been instructed to talk in low voices but loud enough to be overheard by the test subjects.
One of the tests featured a couple, a man and his wife. The woman was trying her best to hear all the controversial talk and was getting frantic and her food was untouched. She whispered to her husband "Did you hear that?" The man looked up from shoveling food in his mouth and grunted "Huh?" He said he had heard the couple talking about breaking up and decided it was none of his business so he tuned them out and went back to eating.
The gist of the study was that people can TRY to do several things at once but it won't work. In fact, when they do try, they can't do even one thing very well. Cases in point: I wonder how many automobile accidents have been caused by the driver talking on a cell phone, changing the radio station or lighting a cigarette? I was reading an article about the Autobahn in Germany, the no speed limit super highway and that most German cars (for sale in Germany) don't have cup holders because they know that driving should be the sole focus of the driver. (I don't know if that's true...just because I read it on the 'net doesn't make it so, but it makes a lot of sense)
Multi-tasking - ain't no such thing.
The rest of the article is interesting and I urge you to read it. Something else I've always known is #6:
You can sustain a high level of attention for approximately 10 minutes
The operative word is "approximately". I think that 10 minute time is generous for most men. I know it is for me.
UPDATE:
This was a featured article on my Yahoo start page this morning:
The High Cost of Multitasking
There is a poll embedded in the side column and 76% of the respondents claimed to be good at multi-tasking.
There is a poll embedded in the side column and 76% of the respondents claimed to be good at multi-tasking.
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