critical analysis essay the high price of multitasking

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The High Price of Multitasking

We all do it. The question is how.

By Daniel T. Willingham

Mr. Willingham is a psychologist at the University of Virginia.

Not only do smartphones provide unprecedented access to information, they provide unprecedented opportunities to multitask. Any activity can be accompanied by music, selfies or social media updates. Of course, some people pick poor times to tweet or text, and lawmakers have stepped in. Forty-eight states have banned texting while driving. In Honolulu, it’s illegal to text or even look at your phone while crossing the street, and in the Netherlands they’ve banned texting while biking .

But legislation won’t proscribe all situations in which multitasking is unwise; you need to self-regulate. Understanding how the brain multitasks and why we find multitasking so appealing will help you gauge the hazard of pulling out your phone.

Multitasking feels like doing two things simultaneously, so it seems the danger lies in asking one mental process to do two incompatible things — for texting drivers, watching the screen and the road. A lot of lawmakers must think that way, because 20 states have instituted bans on driving using a hand-held phone while still allowing hands-free calls. Yet hands-free or hand-held makes no difference — they impair driving equivalently as far as external hazards go. Why?

You actually manipulate your phone only briefly for voice calls. The real problem is the toggling of attention between the conversation and the road. Even simple tasks can’t be done simultaneously; you switch between them, and that affects performance.

In a classic experiment , subjects viewed a digit-letter pair: for example, “C7.” A signal instructed people to classify the letter as a vowel or nonvowel or the digit as odd or even. After the response, a new stimulus and a new signal appeared. When the classification task switched, people responded about 20 percent slower than when it was repeated, because switching requires extra steps: resetting your goal (“ignore digit, attend to letter”) and reloading the mental rule (“judge it as vowel or consonant.”)

The cost of shuffling goals and mental rules is harmless if there’s predictable downtime during one or both tasks. As a conference call turns to an agenda item irrelevant to you, go ahead and answer email. Multitasking while driving is so dangerous because driving requires all of your attention at unpredictable times. People sense this, and when on the phone they drive slower and increase their following distance , but they are far too confident that these measures mitigate risk. Fifty-nine percent of adults , young and old, admit to using their phones while driving.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Multitasking — The High Price of Multitasking

The High Price of Multitasking

• Categories: Multitasking

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Words: 644 |

Published: Jan 30, 2024

Words: 644 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Decreased productivity, impaired cognitive functions, negative effects on mental health.

• Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27(4), 763–797.
• Pan, X., Hamilton, K., Sun, Y., & Huang, X. (2015). The impact of multitasking on the academic performance of Chinese students. Computers & Education, 82, 12-19.
• Ophir, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, A. D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(37), 15583-15587.

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The High Price of Multitasking

Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria: Introduction: This paragraph is where readers will have a chance to get an idea of what your essay will be about. Do not give all your information away here. Instead, give readers a sample of what is to come and what points you will be supporting with evidence in the essay’s body. Provide an overview of the work you have analyzed by briefly describing the main points and your thoughts about the writing. Compose a thesis that you will support with evidence throughout the essay. This statement will give direction to your essay and should be well thought out. Body: The body is your opportunity to describe and support your thesis in-depth. Ensure that your thoughts and evidence are clear and organized in a way that is easy for readers to follow and understand. Be sure to write organized paragraphs that clearly state their main idea and move logically from one to the other. Your body paragraphs should support your thesis by combining thoughts and ideas with evidence. There is no such thing as a right or wrong evaluation; the key is how well your thesis is supported and the quality of the evidence used. Conclusion: Think of the conclusion as a review of your analysis. Use this section to restate your thesis and remind readers of your supporting evidence. Think of this paragraph as the last chance to prove your point. Briefly summarize the main points that helped form your analysis. This section should consist of a brief review of your main ideas. Draw conclusions based on your evidence. Use evidence that you have found to wrap up the essay in a meaningful way that relates to your audience. What to Submit Your analysis essay must be 3–4 pages (plus a cover page and references) and must be written in MLA or APA format. Use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Include at least three references from your selected reading cited in MLA or APA format

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SNHU The High Price of Multitasking Critical Analysis Essay

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View attached explanation and answer. Let me know if you have any questions. Surname 1 Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Name Due Date Critical Analysis on the High Price of Multitasking The simultaneous act of doing things often poses a danger to people, especially when the acts are incompatible. The high price of multitasking by Daniel T. Willingham analyzes the possible consequences of multitasking when done at the wrong time. The issue is particularly prevalent with the current generation, who are under the influence of their cell phones and social media. While multitasking at the wrong time, people overlook the consequences, thus end up at severe risk. Texting or receiving a call while driving is among the risky multitasking acts people get themselves into. Therefore, despite the pleasure that people get in it, multitasking is dangerous at the wrong time and can risk peoples’ lives. To begin with, people overlook multitasking, especially when the scenario is perceived to be less risky. It is unfortunate that people are aware of the risks and the underlying consequences but still repeat similar mistakes. Willingham (1) noted that people see no harm in multitasking, hence the reason for repeating a similar mistake. “But people don’t multitask solely because they see no harm in I; they perceive benefits.” While people may see no harm in such critical situations, there are high chances of facing the risk. An example is a student listening to music whil...

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