Media multitasking: from cognitive functions to digital

• Main Authors: Soldatova G.U., Nikonova E.Y., Koshevaya A.G., Trifonova A.V.
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education 2020-12-01
• Series: Современная зарубежная психология
• Subjects: media multitasking; multitasking; cognitive function; adolescents; cognitive control; metacognition; digital socialization
• Online Access: https://psyjournals.ru/files/118462/jmfp_2020_n4_Soldatova_et_al.pdf

The article presents the phenomenon of multitasking, representing simultaneous execution of two or more mental operations. Its particular type, media multitasking (MMT), is also considered as a relatively new format for combining various information flows that meets the requirements of the digital environment. The historical perspective of studying multitasking is presented: from individual experiments on the selectivity of attention to the phenomenon of digital everyday life. Modern empirical studies of MMT correlates among the main cognitive functions, including those of “light” and “heavy” multitaskers: attention, memory, thinking, and cognitive control, as well as productivity, academic performance, and metacognition are analyzed. The positive and negative effects of the MMT format are described. The resulting data set suggests that using the MMT format, which for most children and adolescents is gradually becoming a universal strategy of activity, the child adapts to an information-rich environment as a multiple and mixed reality. The importance of developing mechanisms for the formation of managed and controlled MMT for the education system is emphasized.