Рубрика:
29
People often think of the ability to multitask as a positive attribute, to the
degree that they will proudly tout their ability to multitask. Likewise it’s not
uncommon to see job advertisements that place “ability to multitask” at the top of
their list of required abilities. Technologies such as smartphones cater to this idea that
we can (and should) maximize our efficiency by getting things done in parallel with
each other. Why aren’t you paying your bills and checking traffic while you’re
driving and talking on the phone with your mother? However, new research by
EyalOphir, Clifford Nass, and Anthony D. Wagner at Stanford University suggests
that people who multitask suffer from a problem: weaker self-control ability.
The researchers asked hundreds of college students fill out a survey on their
use of 12 different types of media. Students reported not only the number of hours
per week that they used each type of media, but also rated how often they used each
type of media simultaneously with each other type of media. The researchers created
a score for each person that reflected how much their lifestyle incorporated media-
multitasking.
They then recruited people who had scores that were extremely high or low
and asked them perform a series of tests designed to measure the ability to control
one's attention, one's responses, and the contents of one's memory. They found that
the high- and low- media-multitasking groups were equally able to control their
responses, but that the heavy media-multitasking group had difficulties, compared to
the low media-multitasking group, when asked to ignore information that was in the
environment or in their recent memory. They also had greater trouble relative to their
counterparts when asked to switch rapidly between two different tasks. This last
finding was surprising, because psychologists know that multitasking involves
switching rapidly between tasks rather than actually performing multiple tasks
simultaneously.
It seems that chronic media-multitaskers are more susceptible to distractions.
In contrast, people who do not usually engage in media-multitasking showed a
greater ability to focus on important information. According to the researchers, this
reflects two fundamentally different strategies of information processing. Those who
engage in media-multitasking more frequently are "breadth-biased," preferring to
explore any available information rather than restrict themselves, they develop a habit
of treating all information equally. On the other extreme are those who avoid breadth
in favor of information that is relevant to an immediate goal.
Notes:
• multitasking - многозадачность, многозадачная работа, многозадачный
режим
• cater for / to - удовлетворять (требования) ; угождать,
потворствовать
(чьим-л. прихотям)
• counterpart - коллега, человек, находящийся на аналогичной должности
или выполняющий сходную работу
• tout [taut] - назойливо расхваливать, рекламировать, навязывать
Task 1. Choose the correct item.
Страницы
- « первая
- ‹ предыдущая
- …
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- …
- следующая ›
- последняя »
