Can students really multitask? An experimental study of instant messaging while reading

Bowman, Laura L.; Levine, Laura E.; Waite, Bradley M.; Gendron, Michael S.

doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2009.09.024

Cited by 313 publications

(194 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…25 In addition, studies from the psychology and education literature have previously documented negative consequences on learning when individuals use electronic devices to multitask. [15][16][17] Students who used a laptop in class were likely to multitask, become distracted, and distract others; the more a student used the laptop in class, the lower the student's class performance. 15 Multitasking with a cellphone during driving can be especially hazardous.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies from the psychology and traffic safety fields have documented untoward consequences when individuals use electronic devices to multitask. [15][16][17][18][19] Given these concerns, we investigated the prevalence and patterns of smartphone use during inpatient attending rounds, and whether these devices can distract team members in this period of important information transfer.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Smartphone use during inpatient attending rounds: Prevalence, patterns and potential for distraction

Katz‐Sidlow

Ludwig

Miller

et al. 2012

Journal of Hospital Medicine

123

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BACKGROUND:While there are numerous benefits of smartphone use for physicians, little is known about the negative effects of using these devices in the context of patient care.OBJECTIVE:To assess resident and faculty smartphone use during inpatient attending rounds and its potential as a source of distraction during transfer of clinical information.DESIGN:Cross‐sectional survey.SETTING:University‐affiliated public teaching hospital.PARTICIPANTS:All housestaff and inpatient faculty in the departments of Medicine and Pediatrics.METHODS:Participants were asked about smartphone ownership, usage patterns during attending rounds, and whether team members had ever missed important data during rounds due to distraction from smartphones. Attendings were asked whether policies should be established for smartphone use during rounds.RESULTS:The overall response rate was 73%. Device ownership was prevalent (89% residents, 98% faculty), as was use of smartphones during inpatient rounds (57% residents, 28% attendings). According to self‐reports, smartphones were used during rounds for patient care (85% residents, 48% faculty), reading/responding to personal texts/e‐mails (37% residents, 12% faculty), and other non‐patient care uses (15% residents, 0% faculty). Nineteen percent of residents and 12% of attendings believed they had missed important information because of distraction from smartphones. Residents and faculty agreed that smartphones “can be a serious distraction during attending rounds,” and nearly 80% of faculty believed that smartphone policies should be established.CONCLUSIONS:Smartphone use during attending rounds is prevalent and can distract users during important information transfer. Attendings strongly favored the institution of formal policies governing appropriate smartphone use during inpatient rounds. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2012;. © 2012 Society of Hospital Medicine

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Smartphone use during inpatient attending rounds: Prevalence, patterns and potential for distraction

Katz‐Sidlow

Ludwig

Miller

et al. 2012

Journal of Hospital Medicine

123

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“…For example, Bowman, Levine, Waite, and Dendron (2010) found that students, who were chatting via instant messenger while reading a passage from a textbook took significantly more time to read the passage than students who were engaging in the reading task alone. Similarly, reading comprehension and memory have been shown to be significantly reduced in students completing academic work while watching television (Armstrong, Boiarsky, & Mares, 1991;Pool, Koolstra, & van der Voort, 2003).…”

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confidence: 99%

Rewarding Multitasking: Negative Effects of an Incentive on Problem Solving under Divided Attention

Wieth¹,

Burns²

2014

The Journal of Problem Solving

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Research has consistently shown negative effects of multitasking on tasks such as problem solving. This study was designed to investigate the impact of an incentive when solving problems in a multitasking situation. Incentives have generally been shown to increase problem solving (e.g., Wieth & Burns, 2006), however, it is unclear whether an incentive can increase problem solving while attentional resources are divided. Participants were either given an incentive or not and asked to complete incremental and insight problems while either in a dual-task or single task condition. After solving the problems participants were given a surprise memory test. Results showed that the incentive only led to increases in problem solving in the single task condition but not the dual-task condition. Furthermore, results showed that an incentive in the dual-task condition led to an increase in recall of irrelevant information. These findings indicate that an incentive cannot ameliorate the detrimental effects of multitasking when problem solving and may even lead to an increase in irrelevant information processing. The ability to problem solve is often seen as an essential skill for individuals to succeed in today's world. The new Common Core State Standards Initiative, an educational initiative for grades K-12 in the United States, was designed to enhance students' problem solving and critical thinking skills, which are mentioned as crucial for entry-level careers, first-year college courses, and workforce training programs (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2014). Indeed, problem solving ability has been reported as one of the top two job skills that employers are looking for when hiring (Casserly, 2012). Given the emphasis that has been placed on problem solving in educational and career settings, it is surprising that rather than focusing solely on solving a problem, many students and workers will engage in problem solving activities while also performing other tasks such as checking e-mail or watching TV. Indeed, simultaneously attending to multiple streams of information while working or studying has become an increasingly common behavior among younger individuals, such as college students (Rosen, Carrier, & Cheever, 2013). Rideout, Foehr, and Roberts (2010), in a report written by for the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that almost a third of the students surveyed said that when they were writing a paper or completing a problem, "most of the time" they were also watching TV, texting, listening to music, or using some other medium. Similarly, a national survey of 2,000 U.S. information workers showed that 92 percent of respondents confessed to multitasking during meetings and 41 percent admit to doing so "often" or "all the time" (FuzeBox, 2014).Incidence of multitasking continues to increase despite research consistently showing adverse impacts on task performance when switching between two cognitively demanding tasks or attempting to divide attentional resources to perform two tasks at once. For example, Bowman, L...

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“…They were also more likely to be multitasking while doing homework. Given that experimental research by Bowman et al (2010) found that students took longer to read a passage of text online if they were simultaneously instant messaging, one possible explanation for why high school girls, especially those in the earlier cohort, spent longer on homework is that they spent more time multitasking with TV and computers for personal pleasure than did boys. Thus, longer time spent on homework may not necessarily translate into a greater quantity of homework completed or higher quality homework.…”

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confidence: 99%

Children’s Media Use and Homework Time

Pabilonia¹

2016

The Economics of Multitasking

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Can students really multitask? An experimental study of instant messaging while reading

Cited by 313 publications

References 27 publications

Smartphone use during inpatient attending rounds: Prevalence, patterns and potential for distraction

Smartphone use during inpatient attending rounds: Prevalence, patterns and potential for distraction

Rewarding Multitasking: Negative Effects of an Incentive on Problem Solving under Divided Attention

Children’s Media Use and Homework Time

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