In a recent Atlantic Monthly article entitled “The Autumn of the Multitaskers,” writer Walter Kirn questions the sustainability and costs of multitasking. He tells about a time he careens off a road while checking his photo mail on his mobile phone, which leads him to this observation: “The abiding, distinctive feature of all crashes, whether in stock prices, housing values, or hit-TV-show ratings, is that they startle but don't surprise. When the euphoria subsides, when the volatile graph lines of excitability flatten and then curve down, people realize, collectively and instantly (and not infrequently with some relief), that they've been expecting this correction.” This is the case, Kirn believes, with multitasking. While the rapid pace of our technologically-driven society continually demands people to do more and more, sooner and sooner, all at once, Kirn's research yields several cautionary notes.
First, “the mental balancing acts that [multitasking] requires - the constant switching and pivoting -… appear to shortchange higher [functioning] related to memory and learning.” Research has shown that when confronted by too many simultaneous demands, the brain compensates by using parts not normally used to process that information. Effective processing, consolidation, and “storage” of the related learning can be impacted. Furthermore, some studies have shown that multitasking increases the production of certain hormones which stress and wear down “our systems through biochemical friction, prematurely aging us.” Research is also showing that contrary to multitasking's goal of “getting more done in less time, …a brain attempting to perform two tasks simultaneously will… exhibit a substantial lag in information processing” due to all the required mental gymnastics.
Kirn cites a recent study that found that 53% of students in grades 7-12 report “consuming some other form of media” while watching television, 58% multitask while reading, 62% while using the computer, and 63% while listening to music. I wonder about while doing homework. The danger is that since young brains are still plastic, too great a demand on processing sensory input can potentially compromise the developing brain's structure and the subsequent ability to comprehend, consolidate, or remember what it experiences or learns.
Kirn's unconventional, frantic, shorthand prose style effectively presages the possibility of a coming crash in people's learning capabilities. Much unchartered ground stands at the intersection of technology, brain development, and human capability.