Free Essay

Technology and Multitasking

In: Other Topics

Submitted By juliefeng
Words 2496
Pages 10
Multitasking and Technology

We all go through it, there is too much to do and not enough time to do it. Our days are like this more often than not. I’m a single mother of two young boys; I always find myself picking up someone from one event and taking them to somewhere else. Life is a constant challenge to be one-and-a-half places at once, doing two or three things at once. As I go through my day I find myself doing two or three things at a time, multitasking, as I believe as they refer to it, often with the use of some type of technology I have: my IPod, phone, or mini laptop with me all the time. When I work out, I keep an eye on my crawling infant son, as I use the DVD player and talk to his dad on the IPod. Other times I cook dinner, while helping my other son with his homework, and maybe check an email or two, and look up a recipe…well that about sums up the idea hectic life style for most people. What I’m actually doing is a series of tasks one at a time and switching constantly between them. The problem with serial tasking is that it leads to lower quality and less productivity. The rice came out a little overcooked, I think I might have sent the wrong email to the wrong person, and we’re still working on the homework. If concentrating on one thing at a time, I would have had a better chance to do more tasks correctly.
Technology’s influence on us is greater than ever before; we are ever connected by cell phones, laptops, television. We spend time checking social media and emails on these devices. This is true in adults over thirty who often grew up without these devices as children. The use of technological devices is even more prevalent in the younger generations,
We all go through it, there is too much to do and not enough time to do it. Our days are like this more often than not. I’m a single mother of two young boys; I always find myself picking up someone from one event and taking them to somewhere else. Life is a constant challenge to be one-and-a-half places at once, doing two or three things at once. As I go through my day I find myself doing two or three things at a time, multitasking, as I believe as they refer to it, often with the use of some type of technology I have: my IPod, phone, or mini laptop with me all the time. When I work out, I keep an eye on my crawling infant son, as I use the DVD player and talk to his dad on the IPod. Other times I cook dinner, while helping my other son with his homework, and maybe check an email or two, and look up a recipe…well that about sums up the idea hectic life style for most people. What I’m actually doing is a series of tasks one at a time and switching constantly between them. The problem with serial tasking is that it leads to lower quality and less productivity. The rice came out a little overcooked, I think I might have sent the wrong email to the wrong person, and we’re still working on the homework. If concentrating on one thing at a time, I would have had a better chance to do more tasks correctly. Technology’s influence on us is greater than ever before; we are ever connected by cell phones, laptops, television. We spend time checking social media and emails on these devices. This is true in adults over thirty who often grew up without these devices as children. The use of technological devices is even more prevalent in the younger generations, Daniel T. Willingham, a professor of cognitive psychology at The University of Virginia stated, “The average American between the age of 8 and 18, spends more than 7.5 hours a day using a phone, computer, television or other electronic device” (2010). It is not uncommon to see a teenager texting while watching television and doing a homework assignment at the same time. It is not feasible to think that the homework assignment is getting the full attention necessary to be done to its full potential. What people mistake for multitasking is in fact the switching of tasks back and forth on a constant basis; serial tasking is seemingly found more frequently in the younger generation, the same ones that are given credit for their ability to do the impossible. The brain does not have the cognitive ability to do two tasks at once. The younger generation just for some reason have an ability to switch between the tasks better and remember where they were in that task. The more that technology is intertwined to our lives, the more we find our valuable attention span chipped away at. The most mundane of tasks become more monumental, looking for your keys takes an extra five minutes, because you’re checking your text messages as you look and you keep passing by the keys. To Lord Chesterfield, singular focus was not merely a practical way to structure one’s time; it was a mark of intelligence. “This steady and undissipated attention to one object is a sure mark of a superior genius; as hurry, bustles, and agitation, are the never-failing symptoms of a weak and frivolous mind” (Rosen, 2008). There is a constant need for external stimulus, and the level must constantly be ratcheted higher. Simple breaks such as waiting for a parent to get ready or a series of television commercials are a pox on our time now. Is this a symptom of something else? ADT is purely a response to the hyperkinetic environment in which we live” (Rosen, 2008). This simply proves? that over three hundred years of the human race, multitasking was never very productive at all. People just trying to keep themselves busy by doing multiple things at once that they could have done more effectively if they just do it one task at a time and give themselves a little break in between tasks. People with attention deficit trait are not organized as they would seem, run-on they are overloaded with tasks that they are just going crazy in keeping up with all of them at once. Therefore, many organizations have managers and CEOs who have often encountered these dilemmas which often lead them to burnout at work. When thinking of the difference of multitasking and the detriments of doing this rather than just focusing on a single task at hand, and completing that task until it is done as putting it like think of the difference between gas mileage on a highway and in the city. Driving on the highway is akin to doing a singular task at a time, it is more efficient. Your mind is the engine and it gets 25 miles a gallon on the highway when it cruises along unimpeded. Now that same car that is your mind gets only17 miles a gallon in the city, as it is constantly starting and stopping, trying to find a rhythm, operating inefficiently, wasting valuable gas and resources or in this case thoughts and processing. In Technology: Myth of Multitasking. Jim Taylor, a PhD at The University of San Francisco specializing in the psychology of parenting, business and Sport writes “In fact, when you think you're CRUISING along the information highway, you're actually stepping on the gas then hitting the brakes, over and over.” He goes on to add “These findings have demonstrated that when you shift focus from one task to another, that transition is neither fast nor smooth. Instead, there is a lag time during which your brain must yank itself from the initial task and then glom onto the new task. This shift, though it feels instantaneous, takes time. In fact, up to 40 percent more time than single tasking-especially for complex tasks.
So as multitasking is going full speed ahead in our lives, what should we expect our children’s generation to see? According to Schoolatoz.nsw.edu’s website, “Can Kids really do their homework and multi-task?”: * Teenagers might be regularly multi-tasking, but that doesn’t mean they are performing the tasks to the best of their ability. * Research has shown that multi-tasking reduces focus. * Dedicated study time without distractions produces better learning.

* Multi-tasking is an unavoidable part of life, but it’s best if teenagers don’t try to do

it while studying.
The University of Oxford’s Institute for the Future of the Mind did a study on two age groups of people to gauge their ability to cope with multitasking. A group one are the 18-21 years old and the other group was the 35-39 years old. As the study multiple tasks were introduced to the younger generation, the younger age group had a better level of concentration than the older generation in this study. This concluded that brain the shut down if it was asked to multitask. Professor of Neuroscience and author Bill Klemm stated that this may also impact memory and learning. So, how should we teach youngsters to understand the ineffectiveness of multitasking? According to Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, for students to understanding the concept of real multitasking, they should be taught with technology per students’ abilities in each classroom. (Zhu & Kaplan 2014). The following graph demonstrated as their proposal following the taxonomy of educational objectives that was developed by Benjamin Bloom (1956) and later was revised Anderson and Krathwohl (2001):

This graph might be confusing at first glance, but bear with this for a moment; teachers could choose from the above graph and decide from there on how to teach their students. With so many different approaches to t incorporating technology into the classes, the teachers would have their hands full just preparing their lectures every week. How would one teacher supposedly teach students a little bit differently than the last class? The material would have the same concept, but the way the teacher teaches the students would be a little bit different in each class with different technology approach. One could only wonder the success or failure outcome of this method? On the other hand, in an article called “Effects of online multitask on reading comprehension of expository text” in Cyberpsychology found that our everyday lives we are always trying to do more than one thing at once, but the effectiveness of it is questionable (Tran, Carrillo, and Subrahmanyam 2013). Some studies have shown that doing so has a negative effect on our productivity, others show the opposite. The introduction and constant introducing of new technologies in the recent past has only increased our need to do more than one thing at once. One of the main points tried by the authors was the Cognitive Load Theory. "A fundamental assumption of the theory is that working memory has a limited capacity that constrains a learner’s ability to process new information. Cognitive load is defined as any demand on working memory storage and processing of information” this should be paraphrased (Sweller, 1994). Others had tested this theory by asking students to answer an email or an instant message as they performed an academic task. The authors did not feel this was a strenuous enough test on the students. The authors of the article were rebuffed in their findings; none of the three experiments conducted found a direct or even indirect correlation to multitasking and declining academic performance. In all three instances there was no significant or even recognizable drop -off in performance. In fact the authors stated in their discussions, their finding is that the level of task performed effectiveness depending on the difficulty of the tasks. So the study found almost the opposite of the hypotheses offered by the authors before the experiment, the authors offered some reasons for this including a lack of challenge with the tasks offered and the familiarity of the subjects as millennial to being used to do the tasks offered without having to really increase their cognitive load. The authors displaced honest facts in their theory to disprove their original hypothesis. We are constantly bombarded with modern day’s technology devices, and we often feel the urge to keep up with it when ten years ago these problems did not exist. So what are we to do? There are always going to be further encroachments on our time with both analog everyday tasks, and introductions of new technological advances from the digital world. Where do we draw the line? There is not seemingly enough hours in the day to do everything at once. However there are those tasks that are so important that they have to be done correctly. These are the tasks that you set above all and have to shut everything else out, and draw within you to maintain that singular focus needed when something has to be done right. Doing a singular thing at a time puts more focus on the task at hand. Do the series tasking and give you a few seconds to refocus first before approaches to the second task at hand. What are we supposed to do when we always seems to be running around like a chicken without its head daily? I’m going to do all of that now, I’m turning off the phone, no texts, social media, no television, no email, no laptop, and I’m going to sleep when the kids goes to bed.

References Anderson, L. & Krathwohl D. (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Longman Can Kids really do their Homework and Multi-task? (August 14, 2014). Retrieved from http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/technology/using-technology/homework-and-multitasking-can-it-be-done
Hallowell, E. (2005). Overloaded Circuits: Why Smart People Underperform. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2005/01/overloaded-circuits-why-smart-people-underperform/ar/1
Rosen, C. (2008). The Myth of Multitasking. The New Atlantics: A Journal of Technology and Society. Retrieved from http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-myth-of- multitasking.
Taylor, J. (2011). The Power of Prime. Psychology Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201103/technology-myth- multitasking
Phuoc, T., Carrillo, R., & Subrahmanyam, K. (2013). Effects of online multitasking on reading comprehension of expository text. Cyberpsychology. 7(3), 1-17. doi:10.5817/CP2013-3-2
Willingham, D. ( 2010). Have Technology and Multitasking Rewired How Students Learn? American Educator 34, ( 2),: 23-28. Retrieved from http://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/summer2010/Willingham.pdf
Zhu, E., & Kaplan M. (2014). Getting Started With Technology. Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.crlt.umich.edu/teaching-technology/getting-started

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Technology In Brave New World Essay

...Throughout history, society has developed and grown through advances in technology. These have proved both advantageous and detrimental to society as a whole. Technology has helped connect the world and help make everybody happier. However, at what cost? When does technology cease to be beneficial and begin its destruction? Technology has led to the illusion of multitasking, the chronic and widespread abuse of prescription drugs, and the downfall of society as a whole through virtual realities. The article “Why the modern world is bad for your brain”, by Daniel J Levitin shines light on many of the societal norms in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. “Multitasking has been found to increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol as well as the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline, which can...

Words: 887 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Effect on Multitasking in Classroom and Daily Life

...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

Free Essay

Multitasking

...English 101 5 Oct. 2015 Multitasking In a generation where multitasking has become a part of our lives, I like many others have become drawn to that lifestyle. These days it’s rare to find someone who does not multitask and isn’t able to multitask very well. Multitasking for me is helpful when the amount of work I need to get done increases. From being in school full time and also having to run a house it takes much of my time and being able to multitask effectively makes my day easier. I think multitasking is great when it comes naturally, for some it might even be an advantage. Although some might believe that splitting your attention into different jobs causes work quality, I think it all depends on the task and what requires more attention. For me it’s all about time management and how my day is split and what my priorities are. I’m married and although school is important my husband comes first. Before it was so much easier to get home, eat a hot pocket and wait till my mom got home to cook but that’s not my life anymore and I get home to do what she did and what everyone takes for granted. My multitasking is caused by my busy schedule and the thing I most want to get to at the end of the day is my family and for that reason it’s just easier for me to get multiple things done at once. Multitasking at home means I can get more things done at a certain amount of time. At home I can wash dishes while...

Words: 1710 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Multitasking College Students

...Netflix while doing schoolwork will effect the efficiency, and accuracy of the task given to them. In order to get a better understanding of what we might expect from our study, we chose to analyze five studies that discuss media and technology in regards to secondary and college students. Watching Netflix, and working on homework is an example of multitasking. Multitasking is simply splitting attention, between two or more items. How can multitasking affect the everyday student? We believe that all media and technology can affect a student while he or she is trying to complete homework outside of the classroom. The studies below discuss data based on students multitasking with media and technology....

Words: 2269 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Computer Addiction

...Computer Addiction: Defining the Problem and Finding the Solution In today’s society, it is an acceptable idea for people to obtain information via the computer and the internet. With most things in life, there are disadvantages. Computer technology has shown that there are many disadvantages in using this device. Computer addiction, an ongoing problem, causes problems such as addictive behavior, obsession and multitasking dilemmas. What are the disadvantages of using the Internet? The internet teaches us how to interact with people and places all over the world. There are downfalls to this convenience that we are not told about beforehand. Some of these downfalls occur as psychological disorders, addictions, obsessions and in multitasking. Computer addiction is an ongoing problem in 2015. We need to find a solution. Computer addiction fits the definition of a psychological disorder, a psychological disorder of thought or emotion, a more neutral term than mental illness. For example, Sharon Jayson in her article in USA Today refers to experts who think technology is “rewiring our brains.” Psychological disorders like anxiety, narcissism, addictions and compulsive behaviors that people have are due to excessive computer use. Mary Sykes Wiley, agreeing with Jayson, states that being on the computer is like Cybercoke. It’s an instant high, zooming from link to link. Emily Listfield also uses Jayson’s same words to indicate that the computer internet may even be “rewiring...

Words: 1465 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Google Makes Stupid

...it because I was too busy multitasking… First off, this is written as a business novel. Lately, I have been really weary about business novels. For one, I’m not a novel reader and, since The Goal, the only business novels I’ve liked and gotten through are SHORT ones, including All I Need to Know About Manufacturing I Learned in Joe’s Garage: World Class Manufacturing Made Simple and The Ice Cream Maker: An Inspiring Tale About Making Quality The Key Ingredient in Everything You Do (my review here). This book, written by business coach Dave Crenshaw, tackles the idea of “multitasking” — that we can do two things at once. If you think about multitasking from a Lean perspective, you might think about the practices of Standardized Work. In a factory, standardized work assumes a person can really only do one thing at a time. At most, you might reach for a part with your left hand while simultaneously reaching for a tool with your right. But, this is a relatively simple task that, in a repetitive manufacturing environment, can be done without thinking and through a lot of muscle memory. In professional settings, we often trick ourselves into thinking we can multitask. While on conference calls, people play Minesweeper or surf the web. This works, except for when you realize you haven’t been listening or someone calls on you and you can’t answer — it’s embarrassing. Nurses and other medical professionals are often the queens (and kings) of multitasking, or so they think. Can we really...

Words: 3206 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Facebook

...relationship between Facebook™ activity and academic performance for an African American sample population. The study was conducted at a large, four-year, private university in the Mid-Atlantic. All undergraduate, African American students enrolled in the College of General Studies, School of Health Sciences, and School of Education comprised the sample population. Volunteer participants completed a Facebook™ Activity Survey, which is an instrument used to collect semester grade point averages (GPAs), time-use of Facebook™, multitasking information, type of Facebook™ activities, and demographic information. The results of the survey were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression statistics. The analysis showed the strength of the relationship between the predictor variables (average daily minutes of using Facebook™, demographic data, academic data, daily minutes of multitasking, and types of Facebook™ activities used while multitasking) and the criterion variable (semester GPA). The results of the...

Words: 27934 - Pages: 112

Free Essay

Dfghj

...Causes and Effects of the Shortening of Attention Span Among  the Public  by Clara    Long before, when there wasn’t technology and the act of getting orders so quickly, people  could pay attention on one activity for a long time. For example, my dad can pay attention on his work  way better when he’s free from all the quick serving of technology. Every day, there are new updates in  technology and we are living in a society where if on dilemma occurs in one part of the world, the  opposite side of the Earth will also get to know in less than a minute. These days, Koreans expect  everything faster, like they want their delivery in less than two days and they get so frustrated if the WiFi  doesn’t work or is slow. That’s why Korea have the fastest and best WiFi in the World. Consequently,  people these days have a hard time focusing on a task. The attention span of people are getting shorter  because of the new world’s technology and others causes. Moreover, there are a lot of negative effects  to the shortening attention span of people in the society of 2014.  Multitasking is called a skill, but it can damage your attention span and your ability to put effort  into a task. People multitasking by reading and texting at the same time, or any other combination  possible. For example they could be texting, reading, and writing an essay. I have been texting and  reading at the same time and it’s not really comfortable. I tended to forget what the story was about and  ...

Words: 767 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Multitasking

...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

Free Essay

Multitasking

...by technology grows more advanced. Multitasking is something that is done worldwide and is normally looked at as something that has only negative effects on us humans and our bodies. There are also studies that bring out good results from multitasking. All in all people need to continue to research multitasking, it definitely has its ups and downs, but it could be harmful to us as well. There are a lot of people who have found many negative effects from multitasking. It may have many negative effects, but believe it or not there are some good things that come from multitasking. In some ways multitasking could hurt our performance, but we do it out of habit because it makes us feel good. While multitasking often gets a bad reputation, new research says simultaneous addition of different types of media may help us perform a specific task. Recently, the harmful side effects of multitasking have surfaced. The main so called negatives relate to instant messaging, music, web surfing, e-mail, online videos, games or social network. Research has showed multitasking can cause damages during certain mental tasks involving task switching, attention, and memory, both in the laboratory and in real-life situations. This type of impairment may be due to the fact that multitaskers pay attention to numerous sources of information available around them, without sufficient focus on the information in front of them. Although multitasking is frowned upon today, many of us are multitasking right...

Words: 418 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Role Of Multitasking In Everyday Life

...Though rarely mentioned or discussed, multitasking effects people of all ages in one way or another. Whether it’s doing schoolwork while watching tv, or skyping someone while in line at the bank, modern society and technology allow user to do virtually anything they want at any time. This immediately raises the question, “just because you can, should you?” All of my research done so far has been in an attempt to find an answer to this question in regards to multitasking in everyday life. Every article I have found seems to have something different, and often contradictory, to say about multitasking. Of the sources I have found so far, the most substantial and concrete of those have all had similar views on multitasking. As of now, I am aware...

Words: 322 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Do Teens Multitask Too Useful?

...Click, scratch, click, scratch. That’s the sound of you unproductively multitasking. Multitasking is the act of doing two or more different things at once. In this case I think teens cannot multitask effectively, because teens may be too distracted with of the technology, teens may not be learning because they are doing too many things at once, and teens parents should put down more guidelines to allow their children to focus. First of all teens cannot multitask effectively because they may be too distracted by technology. Strong evidence suggest, “ Lary Rosen recommends turning off the tech and trying to focus on schoolwork, although media is very hard to avoid, you need to prioritize what comes first.” Therefore, an expert even relates to this topic as a major problem and how to help. Scientist’s studies even show, “Among teenagers, average screen time is more than six-and-a-half and almost nine hours with nine hours over all.” stated Judy Woodruff. This piece of evidence proves that teens are on their technology too long, therefore how else will they be able to actually focus on educational work....

Words: 480 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

How Does Multitasking Affect Teens

...Multitasking plays an important role to teenagers lives. Some listen to music while playing video games. Others type a research report and answer their text messages, at the same time. Parents don’t think this is good for them. Multitasking is becoming widely common in teens. It allows them to have the world at their fingertips, and allowing them to stay connected with multiple media sources all at once. Although many adults and parents believe multitasking has negative effects on teens, studies might say otherwise. Multitasking has become widely common in teens recently. They can benefit a lot from it. Studies have shown that teens who multitask a lot tend to have good skills in their other 5 senses, such as sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. These senses are beneficial and crucial to a teen’s life, they are what makes...

Words: 484 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Achieving Healthful Digital Diet

...for entertainment. There should be a balanced diet for the young people between entertainment use and educational use. It is also important to limit multitasking while studying. Multitasking is not helpful at all, because it prevents young people from being focused. Finally, one expert suggests that young kids shouldn’t be given smartphones just to keep them quiet, and even elder ones should just be given simple phones. The most significant idea of this passage is that digital use for entertainment is causing many problems for children’s education. Children are obsessed by the screen nowadays. For instance, when my little four year old nephew starts making noise at home, my sister give him the iPad to play with games so he can quiet up. He likes to play video games and watch videos from YouTube. If my sister doesn’t give him the iPad he would make a lot of noise which is not good for neighborhoods around us. I think my sister should find a different way to stop him from making noise not just by handing him the iPad. However, parents should have big role to prevent their children from using screens for entertainment. Children should be more focused on education. The author makes a great point that young kids shouldn’t be given smartphones to keep them quiet. Another problem in today’s society for kids is multitasking. Multitasking should be limited while studying because it can bring distraction. Although, lately I have noticed that when I start to study while I have my phone...

Words: 640 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Multii-Tasking Research Paper

...Pedestrian Behavior: Multitasking while crossing an Intersection Many people pride themselves on the ability to multitask, which includes using cell phones while crossing the street. While current literature supports the phenomenon suggesting that more pedestrians are engaging in multitasking as they cross intersections. Multitasking was observed as pedestrians crossed the intersections of Georgia Avenue and Bryant Street in Washington Dc. Are there more people crossing the street who are multi-tasking, or who are not multitasking. How are pedestrians multi-tasking, as they cross the street, were participants using handset at their ears, using headphones, or looking down at their phones. Or finally if they chose not to multitask while they crossed the intersection. These finding suggest that pedestrians did not engage in multitasking while they proceeded to cross the intersection. Keywords: Multitasking, intersection, cell phone, headphones, handset, pedestrians. Risky Pedestrian Behavior: Multi-tasking at Intersections With the attention of cell-phone distraction while driving, its risks, injuries, and deaths in the media and research, we would consider that pedestrians would be more cautious with multi-tasking while crossing intersections. However, since we are in the age of technology, pedestrians are more likely to engage in multitasking. In a study, by (Stavrinos, Byington, & Schwebel 2011) the researchers argues that children view cell phones to...

Words: 1888 - Pages: 8