Research About Multi Tasking

Probably the best learning from tracfic school study. 😼

Distraction is not exclusive to driving. In fact, multitasking is a common way that people conduct their lives. Many children do their homework in front of the TV. People take work home from the job site and mingle family time with work time (giving neither of them the attention they deserve). Doing only one thing at a time seems almost lazy in today’s society.

Research done by UCLA psychologists report that “Multitasking adversely affects how you learn.” I know this is a traffic course, not a college class. But if you cannot turn off and on your learning ability while multitasking - why would you think you can multitask while going down the freeway at 60 mph?

We humans do not have the ability to do several things at once. While it may appear you are doing things simultaneously, we are in fact switching our attention from task to task very quickly. We may be scheduling an appointment while running errands and trying to get it all done during a lunch hour. The hurried state of our lives makes it feel like we’re gaining time by trying to do it all at one time.

According to brain researchers, that’s not likely. Several labs have observed the brains of people multitasking using MRIs. The brain struggles to switch from one task to the next and becomes particularly bogged down if the multiple tasks are using the same part of the brain. When you direct your attention to one thing at a time, your brain is working at a much more efficient level. At the interval when you switch tasks, the brain hesitates to push aside the previous task and begin the new one.