In the last six weeks, I've written a lot about whether multitasking is possible, who can do it, the conditions under which it can be accomplished, the degree to which it can be improved, and so on, but I haven't explicitly written much about the negative effects of trying to multitask. There are obvious consequences, such as the increased probability that some information will not be processed and mistakes--even deadly ones--will result. If I wrote a post about those, it wouldn't be very informative. However, there are other negative consequences--especially in how the brain functions--that aren't so obvious. That will be the topic of this post.
In the January 2005 issue of the Harvard Business Review, psychiatrist and author Edward Hallowell wrote an article titled Overloaded Circuits: Why Smart People Underperform. In it he described a condition that many harried business executive suffer which he calls "Attention Deficit Trait" or ADT, an environmentally-caused cousin of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He argues that "as our minds fill with noise -- feckless synaptic events signifying nothing -- the brain gradually loses its capacity to attend fully and thoroughly to anything" (Hallowell, 2005, p 56). In other words people develop a case of ADT.
Hallowell explains that the causes of ADT are based on the way the brain has evolved to deal with danger. In non-threatening situations, the frontal lobe of the brain functions as it should, enabling people hold several things in working memory simultaneously, to focus for extended periods of time, and to make creative, thoughtful, accurate, and efficient decisions. However, when a person is deluged with tasks that need to be completed quasi-simultaneously (or he'll lose his job), fear kicks in. Hallowell explains: "The deep regions (of the brain) interpret the messages of overload they receive from the frontal lobes in the same way they interpret everything: primitively. They furiously fire signals of fear, anxiety, impatience, irritability, anger, or panic. These alarm signals shanghai the attention of the frontal lobes, forcing them to forfeit much of their power" (p 58). Hallowell doesn't explicitly say it, but readers can infer that if the frontal lobe of one's brain is continually subjected to an overwhelmingly demanding environment, over time it will lose power (simply out of habit) while the lower, primitive region will gain power.
I can accept Hallowell's argument for people who worry that if they fail to complete their tasks, bad things will happen. However, I wonder whether it can be applied to joyful multitasking. The element of fear seems to be important in activating the amygdala and other lower regions of the brain. Is the condition of being deluged with tasks sufficient to trigger the fear response? Or, must negative consequences be associated with failure to complete the tasks? I think those questions testable. I wonder if any studies have been done. I suppose I need to do some more research!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
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Lately I have been just running across the subject of task switching. One of the most interesting was how Reeves & Nass used it to measure attention. Their comment was “unlike rabbits, people don’t perk up their ears when engaged.” (p. 41) In their experiment they used a technique called secondary reaction task. It follows along the lines of what you have been talking about. People don’t really multitask; they switch between tasks. I thought that it was interesting that researchers used task switching to measure something else – attention and the best part was no introspection was required.
ReplyDeleteReeves, B. & Nass, C. (2002) The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television, and New Media Like Real People and Places. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.
P.S. Happy Easter
I can really identify with the dark side as you put it. One incident I can vividly recall occurred on my way to UF for my job interview. I made a point of leaving early and driving deliberately and slowly. I did everything possible to avoid rushing and scattering my brain as I had a presentation to present. So fate would have it that I missed the turn for University Avenue and while driving slowly, glancing at a map, the car in front of me was at a complete stop and I was not. The word “whack” pretty much sums it up.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that multitasking can lead to ADT and I think you have a valid point regarding joyful engagement or multitasking leading to the same problem. Are youth that may engage in learning, socializing, listening to their ipod and texting at the same time possibly developing ADT? Could engaging student in additional media actually lead to the development of ADT? This really begs the question, is multitasking something educators should encourage?
I wonder if there are any therapies that could help someone reprogram their learned response to multitasking exposure. Clearly, executives you mention do not deal with automizable tasks so that probably is not a viable solution.