Comments on: When multi-tasking, each half of the brain focuses on different goals http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/04/15/when-multi-tasking-each-half-of-the-brain-focuses-on-different-goals/ Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:00:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Amy Bellcourt http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/04/15/when-multi-tasking-each-half-of-the-brain-focuses-on-different-goals/#comment-7315 Amy Bellcourt Sat, 09 Jul 2011 03:55:05 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=1378#comment-7315 Ms. Bellcourt loves to dance Ms. Bellcourt loves to dance

]]> By: Dave http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/04/15/when-multi-tasking-each-half-of-the-brain-focuses-on-different-goals/#comment-7314 Dave Mon, 11 Apr 2011 05:45:43 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=1378#comment-7314 When most people refer to multitasking they mean simultaneously performing two or more things that require mental effort and attention. When we speak of multitasking, what we really mean is that we are switchtasking: switching rapidly between one task and another. Yet, each time we switch, no matter how quickly that switch takes place in our mind, there is a cost associated with it. It's an economic term called switching cost—and the switching cost is high. When most people refer to multitasking they mean simultaneously performing two or more things that require mental effort and attention. When we speak of multitasking, what we really mean is that we are switchtasking: switching rapidly between one task and another. Yet, each time we switch, no matter how quickly that switch takes place in our mind, there is a cost associated with it. It’s an economic term called switching cost—and the switching cost is high.

]]> By: Dr Karen http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/04/15/when-multi-tasking-each-half-of-the-brain-focuses-on-different-goals/#comment-7313 Dr Karen Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:34:40 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=1378#comment-7313 I see a number of issues with this study that make me skeptical: - This is not multi-tasking as much as it's a working memory task(s) with reward and interference thrown in - fMRI is not precise enough to extract these kinds of precise conclusions -- was the splitting related to "multi-tasking"? Strategies for dealing with the kind of interference? A lot of things are going on in the brain when fMRI is being recorded and averaging over all that is not necessarily meaningful to the hypothesis - It may well be nothing more than a practice issue, as others have identified. Other research has shown that people can be trained to do 4 things at once -- true multi-tasking -- and do them better than when concentrating on them, as long as it's become automatic (like drumming ;-) But they do have to be trained on all of them. Working memory practice software also shows that people can improve their working memory significantly with practice. PLEASE don't conclude "my brain can’t handle any more than two tasks at once." That's completely inaccurate as your brain is ALWAYS doing more than one thing. It's only your conscious awareness that's limited by its input and output streams. I see a number of issues with this study that make me skeptical:

- This is not multi-tasking as much as it’s a working memory task(s) with reward and interference thrown in

- fMRI is not precise enough to extract these kinds of precise conclusions — was the splitting related to “multi-tasking”? Strategies for dealing with the kind of interference? A lot of things are going on in the brain when fMRI is being recorded and averaging over all that is not necessarily meaningful to the hypothesis

- It may well be nothing more than a practice issue, as others have identified. Other research has shown that people can be trained to do 4 things at once — true multi-tasking — and do them better than when concentrating on them, as long as it’s become automatic (like drumming ;-) But they do have to be trained on all of them. Working memory practice software also shows that people can improve their working memory significantly with practice.

PLEASE don’t conclude “my brain can’t handle any more than two tasks at once.” That’s completely inaccurate as your brain is ALWAYS doing more than one thing. It’s only your conscious awareness that’s limited by its input and output streams.

]]> By: Tedd-I-Dread http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/04/15/when-multi-tasking-each-half-of-the-brain-focuses-on-different-goals/#comment-7312 Tedd-I-Dread Sat, 28 Aug 2010 18:16:14 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=1378#comment-7312 As a guitar-playing singer I am thinking about the chord I am playing, the rhythm I am stumming, the words I am singing, the pitch I am singing each syllable at, the chord coming up, perhaps the next section coming up, guaging the reaction of the audience, and, most importantly, trying to use as much of my brainspace that is left over to... ...listen to it all - for critical feedback of my own playing and singing and to know what the other musicians are doing, but, even more importantly, for enjoyment. In other words, I believe the brain can do a lot more than this study suggests. As a guitar-playing singer I am thinking about the chord I am playing, the rhythm I am stumming, the words I am singing, the pitch I am singing each syllable at, the chord coming up, perhaps the next section coming up, guaging the reaction of the audience, and, most importantly, trying to use as much of my brainspace that is left over to… …listen to it all – for critical feedback of my own playing and singing and to know what the other musicians are doing, but, even more importantly, for enjoyment. In other words, I believe the brain can do a lot more than this study suggests.

]]> By: Jo Lynn http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/04/15/when-multi-tasking-each-half-of-the-brain-focuses-on-different-goals/#comment-7311 Jo Lynn Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:28:14 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=1378#comment-7311 What Gingerbaker (Are you sitting in a white room with no curtains?) says about drummers is true, and on the piano one uses two hands and often a foot. There are many areas of intelligences and what he is describing would be spatial intelligence. The test in the article relied on visual discrimination. Each person’s brain and physiology is so unique that one can generalize and that's about it. Plus, what if one of the test subjects had a learning disability related to letter recognition? There are so many factors that could influence a person's performance. Each person has strengths in different areas. From what I see with younger people today (I'm a teacher and parent) many young people are far more adept at multitasking than people in my generation because they grew up with so much stimuli. Dr. Andrew Weil was writing about stimulation from a health perspective and suggested that perhaps the stress modern people experience is partially from over stimulation. Meditation has been practiced for so long that perhaps we only think of it as modern stress. What Gingerbaker (Are you sitting in a white room with no curtains?) says about drummers is true, and on the piano one uses two hands and often a foot. There are many areas of intelligences and what he is describing would be spatial intelligence. The test in the article relied on visual discrimination. Each person’s brain and physiology is so unique that one can generalize and that’s about it. Plus, what if one of the test subjects had a learning disability related to letter recognition? There are so many factors that could influence a person’s performance. Each person has strengths in different areas. From what I see with younger people today (I’m a teacher and parent) many young people are far more adept at multitasking than people in my generation because they grew up with so much stimuli. Dr. Andrew Weil was writing about stimulation from a health perspective and suggested that perhaps the stress modern people experience is partially from over stimulation. Meditation has been practiced for so long that perhaps we only think of it as modern stress.

]]> By: Briana http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/04/15/when-multi-tasking-each-half-of-the-brain-focuses-on-different-goals/#comment-7310 Briana Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:11:15 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=1378#comment-7310 The tasks the participants engaged in were not only new but required active attention, and so the definition of "no more than two at a time" may only apply to that. This article makes it sound like they were trying to apply this as a general rule. The piano study is stronger for the lack of ability to multitask during a habitual activity. Have there been any studies on doing several habitual activities at once, where it is "safe" to multi-task because they require less processing each? I'm sure you could do more than two, considering I can watch mindless TV, paint, pet a cat, and drink coffee at the same time without any apparent problems aside from having only two hands (but with straws there are ways around that). The tasks the participants engaged in were not only new but required active attention, and so the definition of “no more than two at a time” may only apply to that. This article makes it sound like they were trying to apply this as a general rule.

The piano study is stronger for the lack of ability to multitask during a habitual activity. Have there been any studies on doing several habitual activities at once, where it is “safe” to multi-task because they require less processing each? I’m sure you could do more than two, considering I can watch mindless TV, paint, pet a cat, and drink coffee at the same time without any apparent problems aside from having only two hands (but with straws there are ways around that).

]]> By: dearieme http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/04/15/when-multi-tasking-each-half-of-the-brain-focuses-on-different-goals/#comment-7309 dearieme Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:31:08 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=1378#comment-7309 Let's not forget the old description: "a jazz band consists of six musicians and a drummer". Let’s not forget the old description: “a jazz band consists of six musicians and a drummer”.

]]> By: Gingerbaker http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/04/15/when-multi-tasking-each-half-of-the-brain-focuses-on-different-goals/#comment-7308 Gingerbaker Fri, 16 Apr 2010 02:42:27 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=1378#comment-7308 They need to test some drummers. There are some extremely skilled drummers who have trained themselves to perform four completely independent rhythms using both feet and both hands simultaneously. Some can even sing a bit while doing this. It's like they don't have a corpus callosum. The "upper limit", with training, might be a bit higher than this set of experiments suggests. They need to test some drummers. There are some extremely skilled drummers who have trained themselves to perform four completely independent rhythms using both feet and both hands simultaneously. Some can even sing a bit while doing this. It’s like they don’t have a corpus callosum.

The “upper limit”, with training, might be a bit higher than this set of experiments suggests.

]]> By: southlakesmom http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/04/15/when-multi-tasking-each-half-of-the-brain-focuses-on-different-goals/#comment-7307 southlakesmom Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:06:34 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=1378#comment-7307 NPR reported a story that challenges the idea we can multi-task while driving. They had a concert pianist come in to the studio and play mundane pieces while they asked questions. As the questions became more complex (i.e. math that required subtraction), the 'memory ' in his fingers began to falter. To see the story go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95702512 The ultimate conclusion for me was that my teen almost-driver needs to listen to this story (not while driving) and understand fully what she is asking her brain to process if she does anything else but concentrate on the road. Fortunately, she usually can't even FIND the phone in her backpack, so I can relax a little bit. My parents always said I could grow up to be a "jack of all trades, master of none", but I didn't think it would actually be a job requirement for my children. NPR reported a story that challenges the idea we can multi-task while driving. They had a concert pianist come in to the studio and play mundane pieces while they asked questions. As the questions became more complex (i.e. math that required subtraction), the ‘memory ‘ in his fingers began to falter. To see the story go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95702512

The ultimate conclusion for me was that my teen almost-driver needs to listen to this story (not while driving) and understand fully what she is asking her brain to process if she does anything else but concentrate on the road. Fortunately, she usually can’t even FIND the phone in her backpack, so I can relax a little bit.

My parents always said I could grow up to be a “jack of all trades, master of none”, but I didn’t think it would actually be a job requirement for my children.

]]> By: david http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/04/15/when-multi-tasking-each-half-of-the-brain-focuses-on-different-goals/#comment-7306 david Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:46:36 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=1378#comment-7306 I wonder what happens if the speed of the neurological feedback between the two halves varies by multiples in an individual. My experience shows that multi-tasking is more complicated than binary and depends on the type of tasks. Some tree branches appear binary but some not at all. Binary is the default program. And for a person to go beyond two to say five or six takes practice, a great familiarity with what you are doing. I have in mind jury trial practice and other things. Those five or six could still possibly be relegated and trained to switch within two somehow. In types of tasks, is emoting a task? Seems in my experience it is in the middle, and in control. I would go so far as to say if one is going to learn a difficult task, or more than one, it must be connected with emotion, the beginning point. Nice thought, nice people, but the assumption that the test subjects are representative of all needs only one exception to change the conclusion, which the scientists are certain to be aware of. I wonder what happens if the speed of the neurological feedback between the two halves varies by multiples in an individual. My experience shows that multi-tasking is more complicated than binary and depends on the type of tasks. Some tree branches appear binary but some not at all. Binary is the default program. And for a person to go beyond two to say five or six takes practice, a great familiarity with what you are doing. I have in mind jury trial practice and other things. Those five or six could still possibly be relegated and trained to switch within two somehow. In types of tasks, is emoting a task? Seems in my experience it is in the middle, and in control. I would go so far as to say if one is going to learn a difficult task, or more than one, it must be connected with emotion, the beginning point. Nice thought, nice people, but the assumption that the test subjects are representative of all needs only one exception to change the conclusion, which the scientists are certain to be aware of.

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