The Myth of Multitasking

1. Why is multitasking considered by many psychologists to be a myth?
Many psychologists believe that multitasking is a myth because you can’t not do two things at the same time and to them well. Your mind has to switch between the to tasks so you never have you full attention on two things.

2. To what does the term "response selection bottleneck" refer?
It refers to when a person is trying to do multiple things at once , and you have to go back to giving your attention to every single thing. And you are trying to do multiple things at once when you should only do once thing at a time.

3. David Meyer has found that multitasking contributes to the release of stress hormones and adrenaline. Why is this important?
It is important because this can cause long term health problems if not controlled and contributes to the loss of short term memory.

4. Explain what Russell Podrack found regarding multitasking.
He found that multitasking adversely affects how you learn. Even if you learn while multitasking. Learning is less flexible and more specialized, so you can’t retrieve the information as easily.

5. What does the author conclude could happen to our culture as a result of increased multitasking?
We may adjust and come to accept it. It may also become just another part of our daily routine. Also with crumbs of attention rationed out among many competing tasks, their culture may gain in information, but will surely weaken in wisdom.