Research reveals that our perception of multitasking is often an illusion – most cognitive tasks cannot actually be done simultaneously.
Surprisingly, this illusion of multitasking can improve performance on activities, even when the tasks remain unchanged.
Key Facts:
- Although multitasking refers to doing multiple things concurrently, true multitasking is rare for cognitive tasks requiring attention.
- Perceptions of multitasking are malleable – the same activity can be construed as multitasking or single tasking based on framing.
- Perceiving an activity as multitasking boosts motivation, effort, and engagement, enhancing performance.
- Across 32 studies with over 8,000 participants, those who perceived an activity as multitasking outperformed single taskers, even when controlling for other factors.
- Physiological measures confirmed greater pupil dilation, indicating increased attention and arousal when participants perceived multitasking.
Source: Association for Psychological Science 2018
The Prevalence yet Illusion of Multitasking
In today’s world, multitasking has become pervasive.
Between smartphones, computers, and an endless stream of digital notifications, people are constantly bombarded with distractions and the urge to switch between tasks.
Surveys reveal that most individuals believe they can multitask well and view it as an important skill to cultivate.
However, decades of research on human cognition paint a different picture.
Our brains are limited in how much information they can actively process at once.
When people try to perform two cognitive tasks simultaneously, such as reading while on a phone call, they end up alternating their attention between each task rather than truly executing them concurrently.
This results in lower performance compared to focusing on a single activity.
Yet in many situations, people can construe the same set of tasks as either multitasking or single tasking.
For instance, when asked to watch a video and transcribe the audio, some see this as two concurrent tasks – watching and transcribing.
Others view it as a single integrated task. This demonstrates the malleable nature of multitasking perceptions.
The Benefits of “Perceived Multitasking”
New research reveals that simply perceiving an activity as multitasking, regardless of whether true simultaneity is possible, can boost motivation and improve performance.
In one study, participants were asked to transcribe a video, with some told they would be concurrently learning and transcribing (multitasking framing) while others were told they would be working on a single learning task involving transcription (single task framing).
Although all did the same activity, those primed to view it as multitasking transcribed more words accurately. They also scored higher on a comprehension quiz about the video.
Similar studies using different tasks, from summarizing lectures to working on word puzzles, produced comparable results.
Across 32 experiments with over 8,000 participants, individuals who perceived their activity as multitasking consistently outperformed those who perceived it as single tasking – even when the actual tasks were identical.
Engagement Boost with Perceived Multitasking
What drives this counterintuitive performance enhancement from illusory multitasking?
The researchers identified increased motivation and engagement as the key mechanism.
Activities perceived as more challenging tend to boost effort and attention.
Since multitasking is naturally seen as more difficult than single tasking, merely framing a task this way can increase engagement.
Physiological data backed this up: participants who thought they were multitasking showed greater pupil dilation, indicating heightened arousal and mental effort.
Follow-up surveys also found that most people view multitasking ability as a desirable trait.
This suggests that beyond increasing engagement through perceived difficulty, individuals may also be motivated to step up their game because they want to see themselves, and appear to others, as adept multitaskers.
Caveats & Limitations
While perceiving tasks as multitasking can improve performance in some contexts, the researchers caution that these findings should not be overgeneralized.
True multitasking – actually processing information from multiple tasks simultaneously – remains impossible for most cognitive activities.
Performance gains from perceived multitasking may also have limits based on the type of tasks involved.
For instance, activities requiring very rapid task switching may not benefit as much.
Additionally, research relied heavily on short-term lab studies, and more work is needed to assess effects in real-world settings over longer time periods.
Conclusions & Implications
The prevalence of technology has led multitasking to permeate nearly every facet of life.
However, our perception that we are multitasking is often an illusion.
Surprisingly, this illusion can enhance motivation and performance if tasks are construed as multitasking rather than single tasking.
These findings have important implications.
Simply breaking activities into components and framing them as multitasking could yield motivation and productivity benefits in work and academic settings.
When faced with multiple urgent tasks, being aware that one is multitasking may boost engagement.
However, for tasks with high attentional demands or switching costs, gains from illusory multitasking likely have limits.
As technology continues to fragment focus, the way we perceive our array of tasks may shape outcomes as much as the tasks themselves.
Leveraging the illusion of multitasking by consciously framing activities may help productivity.
However, multitasking’s perceptual boost may also lead people to overestimate their abilities to take on overlapping cognitive tasks.
Treading this line to reap benefits while avoiding costs remains an ongoing challenge in the digital age.
References
- Study: The illusion of multitasking and its positive effect on performance
- Authors: Shalena Srna et al. (2018)
