Multitasking: The “It” Way to Study at SSU?
SALEM, Mass., December 15, 2016–Skylar Best, a freshman at Salem State University (SSU), admits that multitasking allows her to procrastinate more while studying.
“I am always watching Netflix and looking at my phone while studying. I guess [multitasking] does affect my work because I’m not totally focused on it,” Best admitted.
Whether checking email while waiting for a webpage to load, talking on the phone while driving, or catching up on the latest episode of the newest Netflix series while casually doing that worksheet for a Communications class, multitasking is a big part of students’ lives. But is it good for the brain?
By definition, multitasking is the ability to perform multiple tasks over a short period of time (almost simultaneously). According to research, based on numerous studies done by Stanford professor Clifford Nass who pioneered research pertaining to humans and their interaction with technology, people who juggle cognitive tasks, like watching television and working on the computer, perform poorly. The brain is not simultaneously concentrating on both tasks but instead jumping from one to the other, not giving either the attention it needs.
In the present-day, where multitasking has become engrained in students’ everyday lives, apps on phones have articles with built-in videos or ads to view while reading, Instagram posts can be photos or videos, and students across the country check social media sites during classes.
Salem State is no different.
“I see students unsuccessfully attempt to split their attention span while at school and more often than not, during class as they try to skim their social media while paying attention to classroom discussions,” said Dr. Cindy Vincent, SSU assistant professor of Communications.
A recent poll of ten random SSU students showed that eight of them admitted to multitasking by watching TV, checking their phones, listening to music or having multiple tabs open on their computers while studying.
“I think if students focused as much of their attention span on a given task as they can, they would do better,” Vincent noted.
According to a recent UCLA experiment, multtasking is not only detrimental to the hippocampus and striatum, memory and repetitive activities parts of the brain. It also boosts the levels of cortisol and adrenaline, the stress-related hormones, that wear down systems and cause premature aging.
Daphne Larivaux, a junior transfer student at SSU, insists that she can’t multitask while studying because of her undiagnosed ADHD.
“I believe I can’t do two things at the same time,” she said. “It takes my mind off of what I’m doing. Instead of concentrating I’ll just be paying attention to the noise in the background.”
But Larivaux said she observes her fellow SSU students multitasking while in class all the time.
“In class I see people on their phones. In my opinion, they’re not paying attention to the professor or the lecture,” she added.
According to a 2012 Canadian study, the effects of in-class multitasking laptop use on student learning in the classroom were negative. Those who participated in the multitasking scored lower on a test compared to students who were not. Also, students who viewed their peers multitasking scored lower on the tests as well, demonstrating the act of multitasking as a detrimental distraction to both users and observers.
Christian Navarro, a freshman at SSU, doesn’t see a problem in his multitasking study habits and their affect on absorbed information.
“I usually listen to music and watch tv while I homework. I don’t think it impedes my learning. I’ve been doing it since I can remember now,” said Navarro.
In a study conducted by Dr. Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills, students were observed studying for a 15-minute period where they were told to “study something important.” He found was that students generally started to lose focus after about three minutes. On average “students only spent about 65 percent of the observation period actually studying,” he found.
Whether or not one believes in multitasking, it exists and is practiced today, even by SSU students beginning and ending their academic careers.
Mark Casella, an SSU senior graduating in May 2017, stated that multi-tasking doesn’t bother or impede his studying, as long as he is able to compartmentalize the tasks at hand.
“I absolutely multitask. When I’m doing things [assignments] on the computer I usually have multiple tabs open, like my social media sites and email,” he said.
In spite of the documented negative affects, a study done by Brown University, indicates that Casella, like others, may reap the rewards of the paradoxical benefits of dual-task contexts for visuomotor memory . The study concluded that dual-task, or multitask, learning provides more attentional resources which are vital for context learning, thus providing more stability for learning and its success.
“Unless I’m not focused on studying, then the amount of information that I learn is compromised,” Casella added. “Otherwise, I can prioritize [the work] and it’s easier for me to accomplish [the assignments] and focus.”
