Media Multitasking and Cognitive, Psychological, Neural, and Learning Differences

Abstract

American youth spend more time with media than any other waking activity: an average of 7.5 hours per day, every day. On average, 29% of that time is spent juggling multiple media streams simultaneously (ie, media multitasking). This phenomenon is not limited to American youth but is paralleled across the globe. Given that a large number of media multitaskers (MMTs) are children and young adults whose brains are still developing, there is great urgency to understand the neurocognitive profiles of MMTs. It is critical to understand the relation between the relevant cognitive domains and underlying neural structure and function. Of equal importance is understanding the types of information processing that are necessary in 21st century learning environments. The present review surveys the growing body of evidence demonstrating that heavy MMTs show differences in cognition (eg, poorer memory), psychosocial behavior (eg, increased impulsivity), and neural structure (eg, reduced volume in anterior cingulate cortex). Furthermore, research indicates that multitasking with media during learning (in class or at home) can negatively affect academic outcomes. Until the direction of causality is understood (whether media multitasking causes such behavioral and neural differences or whether individuals with such differences tend to multitask with media more often), the data suggest that engagement with concurrent media streams should be thoughtfully considered. Findings from such research promise to inform policy and practice on an increasingly urgent societal issue while significantly advancing our understanding of the intersections between cognitive, psychosocial, neural, and academic factors.

Exploring the relationship between executive functions and self-reported media-multitasking in young adults

“…Research has also explored the relationship between media-multitasking and working memory. However, the evidence is pervasively inconsistent (Uncapher et al, 2017) with some research finding differences between HMMs and LMMs on working memory tasks (e.g. Sanbonmatsu, Strayer, Medeiros-Ward & Watson, 2013;Uncapher et al, 2015) and other research demonstrating no differences (e.g.…”

“…However, the difference in performance was only marginally significant in this latter study. In a recent review, Uncapher et al, (2017) suggest that the majority of the research indicates a negative relationship between more frequent mediamultitasking and attentional control.…”

“…The issue of inconsistent evidence is also prevalent in the few studies exploring media-multitasking and task switching (Uncapher et al 2017;Van der Schuur, Baumgartner, Sumter & Valkenburg, 2015). HMMs have been found to be significantly slower in switch trials (Wiradhany & Nieuwenstein., 2017), and slower in both switch and non-switch trials in terms of switch cost (Ophir et al, 2009), indicating a higher switch cost and poor task-switching ability.…”

Impacts of technology use on children

“…Across OECD countries, an average of 26% of students fall into this category, and it tends to be associated with lower levels of self-reported well-being (OECD, 2017 [107]). There is some research that suggests associations with brain regions implicated in impulsive outcomes and inhibitory processes and "Facebook addiction"/"internet addiction" (Turel et al, 2014 [80]; Li et al, 2014 [108]). However, as with "gaming addiction" and IGD, these classifications remain contentious.…”

Impact of adolescent media multitasking on cognition and driving safety

“…EF, the management of cognitive processes, continues to develop beyond adolescence (Diamond, ; Luciana, Conklin, Hooper, & Yarger, ). On the whole, the research to date suggests that those who engage in heavy MM suffer greater cognitive performance deficits compared to those who engage in light MM (Uncapher et al, ; Uncapher & Wagner, ). Deficits in EF may give rise to increased MM (Baumgartner et al, ) as such deficits result in poorly planned behavior.…”