memory and multitasking study

A recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences contained a study that measured the effects of competing simultaneous tasks on memory and learning. Russell Poldrack, co-author of the study, provided the following commentary in an interview:

"Multitasking adversely affects how you learn," said Russell Poldrack, UCLA associate professor of psychology and co-author of the study.

"Even if you learn while multitasking, that learning is less flexible and more specialized, so you cannot retrieve the information as easily. Our study shows that to the degree you can learn while multitasking, you will use different brain systems.

"The best thing you can do to improve your memory is to pay attention to the things you want to remember. Our data support that. When distractions force you to pay less attention to what you are doing, you don't learn as well as if you had paid full attention."

Tasks that require more attention, such as learning calculus or reading Shakespeare, will be particularly adversely affected by multitasking, he said.

Poldrack notes that multi-tasking while engaged in learning new material will likely have an adverse affect on learning. Hopefully, some empirical evidence regarding multi-tasking will cut through the myths regarding the "gaming generation".