BLUF
This article investigates the ongoing debate about whether heavy social-media use affects our ability to multitask.Summary
Today, few of us could imagine a world (including developing nations') without the availability of 'social-media. In 2009, researchers at Stanford University released a research paper titled Cognitive control in media multitaskers. This study found that:
'......high media multitaskers performed worse in task switching. They were also more easily distracted by information that did not relate to the task at hand.'
According to author Daniel B. le Roux, this was 'a landmark study' and has been the subject of debate and further research ever since its release. Le Roux and his team analysed 46 studies undertaken since 2009. They concluded that the research shows that media multitasking has only a small effect—if any—on a person's 'cognitive control'. This later research by Le Roux indicates that there is still a lot that we do not know about the long-term impact of digital device usage on cognition.
References
- Apr 2021 CyberPsychology “Cognitive Control in Media Multitaskers” Ten Years On: A Meta-Analysis
- Feb 2021 The Conversation No, you are not addicted to your digital device, but you may have a habit you want to break
- Jan 2020 The Conversation A month at sea with no technology taught me how to steal my life back from my phone
- RAAF RUNWAY: RATIONALE, GUIDELINES, LEARNING OUTCOMES, ETC |
