...Distraction, an issue that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else, happens to everyone, every day whether it is realized or not. Multitasking, the handling of more than one task at the same time by a single person, also an everyday issue that most people do not even think about being an issue to their everyday life, but little do they know without this type distraction they could get forty percent more of their work done. Distraction is everywhere, and with distraction comes multitasking, this combination is something that should be avoided if possible. Focusing on one task has been the biggest issue with the creation of the internet and smartphones. Dewatripont mentions in his paper, “focusing on the two-task case for...
Words: 1543 - Pages: 7
...2014 Why Should Using Your Cell Phone While Driving Be Banned? It is no question that the number of cellular device users is dramatically growing in the United States. Between the years of 1995 and 2010 cell phone subscriptions increased by a whopping 82%. In turn, people are no longer confined to their location. We can essentially communicate with anyone, anywhere, and anytime thanks to the cell phone, including while driving. While we can all agree that cell phones are much more convenient than the days of the home phone, cell phone pose a major safety threat when used while operating a motor vehicle. If you’re using a cellular device while driving not only are you causing your brain to multitask, it has been proven to be just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated. Here’s the shocking part! Even though most people are aware that the use of a cell phone while driving is just flat out dangerous, they choose to do it anyway; did I just describe you? Many people have the ability to multitask, in fact most of our jobs require some degree of multitasking. However, multitasking while driving is extremely unsafe as operating a vehicle requires full undivided attention. When multitasking our brains will pay more attention to one stimuli over the others, for example, texting while watching T.V. In that moment you are typing a text your brain will naturally pay more attention to texting than it will to the T.V. in the background. While you still may be listening your attention...
Words: 855 - Pages: 4
...Have you ever attempted accomplishing multiple tasks all at once and lose focus on what you were doing? Are you listening to music, shouting at your siblings or children, online shopping, checking emails, and texting friends and wondering why you’re still stuck writing your first paragraph in your essay for an hour now? Multitasking may seem like a simple tool to use to accomplish numerous tasks at once; however, that essay may have already been completed if you were to simply focus on one task at a time. Is all the multitasking even worth it at this point? Multitasking can be a wonderful tool in certain people’s eyes, but it can be deleterious to the task at hand. “Multitasking Can Make You Lose…Um…Focus” is an article written by Alina...
Words: 637 - Pages: 3
...“Forget multitasking, Try monotasking” is a short TED talked by Paolo Cardini, who is a designer and an educator. Paolo explains the power of importance of monotasking in the world where multitasking appears to be the norm and suggests downgrading our smart phone to make them simply phones. In the video, he shows us a picture as an example of a bad result of multitasking while barbecuing; He did trying to cook, answering the phone, writing SMS, and uploading some pictures at the same time, and he burned everything. Additionally, he shows us some kinds of smart phone covers he designed in order to convey his idea of monotasking. He advocates doing only one thing at a time instead of focusing on several tasks simultaneously. This is because only two percent of people are super-taskers, and the others, most of us, will possibly make mistakes if they do not concentrate on one job. Therefore, Paolo wants us to find our monotask spot within the multitasking world. This is a useful talk, and I totally agree with him for some reasons. It is true that most people cannot deal with much information at one time and sometimes multitasking can cause dangerous situations due to our carelessness when we try to control a multitasking environment. There is a great example supporting this idea; driving and texting is illegal in many countries. Needless to say, texting while driving a vehicle, which is a common multitasking, is very dangerous because it causes over 3,000 deaths and 330,000...
Words: 296 - Pages: 2
...I am a professional at juggling multiple tasks at one time! Being a wife, mother of three, and dog owner of 4, there is not enough time in the day to complete all the tasks I have on my agenda, so I do many things at once. For instance, I clean, cook, and watch my children all while washing laundry and holding a conversation with my husband! However, this requires my attention to be everywhere and that can cause problems. When something comes up that takes a little more of my attention than I can afford to give, I wind up getting mixed up and put the dish soap in the milk and the chocolate syrup in the dishes. There are times which multitasking can be very helpful, yet there are time in which multitasking can be a bad idea. If someone is driving,...
Words: 350 - Pages: 2
...Farris, Alexis M.1. "LOL? Texting While Driving Is No Laughing Matter: Proposing A Coordinated Response To Curb This Dangerous Activity." Washington University Journal Of Law & Policy 36.(2011): 233-259. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 13 Nov. 2012. This article focuses on the dangers of engaging in texting while driving. It includes information such as; how texting has contributed to an increase in cellular device-related car accidents the prevalence of drivers who text in the U.S., and movements to ban the operation of texting while driving any car. I will use this academic article to write my paper because it gives me all the information necessary. It also provides me with experiments that were tested. Gross, Doug. "AT&T asks drivers to take no-texting pledge - CNN.com." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. N.P., 15 Aug. 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. . This site provides information about taking a pledge to not text and drive. It discusses the importance of taking the pledge to not text and drive. This site is particularly aiming towards the teenage age group. In general, I would not use this site in my paper unless I could corroborate the information with another more trustworthy source. I accessed this resource through Google.com. The search term I used was texting and driving. Heidi E., Nemme, and White Katherine M. "Texting While Driving: Psychosocial Influences On Young People's Texting Intentions And Behaviour." Accident...
Words: 831 - Pages: 4
...After reading “The Myth of Multitasking,” I found multitasking to have a negative impact on the quality of how work is done. Rosen expresses many reasons why multitasking has a negative impact on today’s individual. When it comes to a 21st century average adult, being busy is just how it works, which is why we feel so pressured to multitask all the time. Though in this day and age, deadlines are always around, it doesn’t give us an excuse to allow ourselves to do inefficient, low quality work. Even without the pressures of society, multitasking still is not the way things should be done. Rosen expresses many reasons why multitasking has a negative impact on today’s individual. From her many sources about multitasking, to how she approached...
Words: 691 - Pages: 3
...We live in an age ruled by technology and though there are many benefits to this technological leap, there are also several consequences. In Herzog’s film, “From One Second To The Next”, and Paul’s article, “Students can’t resist multitasking…” the consequences are brought to our attention. Paul’s article focused on student life and how technology affects it. Due to the mass production of laptops and iPhones, students tend to be multitasking more than they have ever before. The article consists of several observational studies on multitasking. Researchers would observe lectures and watch over “42%”(Paul) of the students would be on their phone or on some type of social network on their computers. Even though social media is almost second...
Words: 398 - Pages: 2
...Running Head: MULTITASKING AND ITS EFFECTS ON HUMAN FOCUS1 Multitasking and its Effects on Human Focus Damon Kindell Central Carolina Technical College MULTITASKING AND ITS EFFECTS ON HUMAN FOCUS2 Abstract Can doing too many things at once be productive or hazardous? Our world today is so occupied with people and business that handling multiple tasks at one time has become as normal as combing your hair. In recent years statistics and studies have shown that multitasking may seem to appear harmless but in fact decreases our productivity in accomplishing short goals. Whether by media or personal interruptions, a drop in full concentration is significant. (Yeung, N & Monsell, 2003). MULTITASKING AND ITS EFFECTS ON HUMAN FOCUS3 As we look at how media is rapidly changing our world it also increases the numerous things that we can achieve. At least that what it seems. The advancements in technology in today's world are to make life smooth and less complicated, but at the same time very distracting. Think about the many times you may have had to meet a deadline and near the end of reaching this goal you were side tracked by tid bits of personal business that eventually took up more time than you expected. Were they really actually that important than meeting the deadline? Maybe we could have waited? Reaching goals in our lifetime are very important. As big as they come or as small as they leave concentrating on attaining the goal is supreme. It can spell the difference...
Words: 529 - Pages: 3
...Multitasking: Does this skill speed up our work? When applying for a job that deals with fast-paced working environment, there is almost always a required interpersonal skill in the job description that says “Should have excellent multitasking skills” or “Must have ability to multitask” that has not been given sufficient attention by employers, employees, and job seekers. Hence, to explore and understand the term “multitasking” more, it is important to look at some definitions. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED Online) defines multitasking as “perform[ing] multitasking; […] executing a number of tasks concurrently” (“Multitask”). Also, according to Sanbonmatsu, et al “Multi-tasking involves concurrent performance of two or more functionally independent tasks with each of the tasks having unique goals involving distinct stimuli (or stimulus attributes), mental transformation, and response outputs” (1). By reviewing these definitions, this particular skill seems like a practice people habitually do very often nowadays, such as reading a book while listening to music or writing e-mails while chatting over the phone. Therefore, we, as job applicants, might confidently apply and assure employers that we are very good multitaskers without knowing the risks behind multitasking itself. Moreover, employers neither have sufficient awareness of the effects of multitasking on their resources nor have enough knowledge to justify this skill being included in specific job description...
Words: 2134 - Pages: 9
...that even I cannot control. Imagine something so dangerous that it can take away everything and/or everyone you have in mere seconds, regardless of how safe you are. No matter what safety precautions anyone has taken, statistics show that teenagers, more specifically, sixteen year olds, are the most dangerous drivers on the road. Not only are they a danger to themselves, but even more frighteningly, they are a danger everyone around them. Because of this, I believe the driving age limit should be raised to eighteen and sixteen year olds should not be given a “graduated” driver’s license. Driving is a task that requires the utmost attention to detail. Multitasking is perhaps one of the most important things that any driver has to do when he or she gets behind the wheel. You have to pay attention to your speed, other drivers, pedestrians, road conditions, and much more. Because teenagers get distracted so easily, they are often poor at multitasking. This, in addition to the complexities of driving, makes teenagers, specifically sixteen year olds, the most dangerous drivers on the road. In fact, motor vehicle accidents are the number one killer of teenagers, with an estimated 5,000 deaths attributed to it every year. (Schlachtenhaufen, 2008). Even more startling, sixteen year olds have a five to one ratio of being in fatal vehicle crashes when compared to drivers twenty years old or older. In 2003, there were 937 vehicle accidents in which the driver was sixteen years...
Words: 1074 - Pages: 5
...Car accidents are common on a daily basis, and the causes behind these crashes are the many different distractions we have throughout the day, but talking on the phone and even texting while driving is the number one cause of crashes according to recent studies. This distraction can be deadly in many ways and can put the driver as well as the passengers in danger; therefore the use of technology while driving is never an option. The usage of phones either by text or call are a problem when it comes to driving because they do not allow people to focus on their surroundings like incoming traffic and pedestrians, causing crashes and many times even death. Of course, teenagers play a very important role in this controversial topic, as they have been more involved in the evolution of technology; leading them to an addiction to it. In addition, the Department of Transportation is working on banning the use of cell phones while...
Words: 1302 - Pages: 6
...texting while driving? According to a new study, you have no idea how bad you actually are. Researchers at Ohio State University asked college kids to complete two visual tasks similar to driving and texting, and compared their performance with students attempting one audio and one visual task similar to talking on the phone while driving. The texters not only performed worse than the talkers—no surprise—but they also rated their performance better. "Many people have this overconfidence in how well they can multitask, and our study shows that this particularly is the case when they combine two visual tasks," says Zheng Wang, lead author on the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State. The results are in line with previous work that suggest that drivers overestimate their ability to multitask. The participants attempting two visual tasks had to complete a pattern-matching puzzle on a computer screen while typing walking directions to a person over Google Chat, an instant-messaging (IM) system. Students were told the person needing directions was another student named Jennifer. The students tasked with the combined audio and visual tasks had to complete the same computer puzzle while verbally giving directions to Jennifer using Google Talk, a voice chat system. The students were also asked to do the computer puzzle with no distractions. The two multitasking scenarios can be compared to what drivers face, says Wang. People who text while driving are combining...
Words: 424 - Pages: 2
...“A witness says the driver of a pickup truck collided with a church minibus in rural Texas, killing 13 people, acknowledged he had been texting while driving” I listen to this as I sit on my phone while my mom watches the news. I look up to see an image of two cars completely destroyed. “Witnesses say that the driver was erratically driving across the road”. The death of these 13 people was caused because of the choices of someone else, texting while driving, something that is legal in Texas and three other states allowing the freedom of deadly crashes like this to occur. Many people believe that texting while driving is multitasking, but research has shown that multitasking is when you are switching your attention from one thing to the...
Words: 446 - Pages: 2
...Multitasking is having a large effect on children, in both the classroom and there daily life. Few studies have been developed to focus on how multitasking affects children as they get older. The sources also relate specifically about how multitasking affects children in school and there daily lives. By multitasking while studying your brain functions different then if you were only focusing on one thing. There is a strong lack of knowledge learned when doing this. Also studies have show that many children find less time to interact with their parents because of the large amounts of time multitasking have found. Because of today’s popular culture kids are trying to multitask to much and its affecting them in school and in there family life. Doing very simple tasks such as ironing some clothes and listening to a radio is as simple as multitasking can get. But when children use there electronics to become multitaskers it’s a completely different story. They become so fixated on what they were supposed to do, that they have to double the amount of time just to finish what they started. Doing homework while instant messaging, listening to music, and watching television becomes more of a concern for parents everyday. Family life is becoming a concern for children and how they act around there family member. A specific study by Anthropologist Elinor Orch, director of UCLA’s center on everyday lives of families. Because of the large scale of multitasking with...
Words: 3054 - Pages: 13
