Why Multitasking Is Killing Your Learning (And What to Do About It)
Why Multitasking Is Killing Your Learning (And What to Do About It)
We've all tried to study while checking our phones or watching a show in the background. In today’s fast-paced world, multitasking feels like a survival skill, but when it comes to learning, it’s actually a silent killer. According to research in cognitive psychology, multitasking doesn’t help us learn more in less timeit just helps us do more things poorly. A 2009 Stanford study by Ophir, Nass, and Wagner found that heavy media multitaskers were worse at filtering irrelevant information, had a harder time switching between tasks, and struggled to focus. In short, multitasking makes it harder to learn because our brains aren't wired to pay full attention to more than one thing at a time.
From a learning theory perspective, this links directly to cognitive load theory, which explains how our working memory has limited capacity. When we split our attention, we overload that capacity, and our ability to encode new information into long-term memory drops. In class, we learned about the importance of attention in forming strong associations during learning (think classical and operant conditioning). If your attention is constantly fragmented, those associations don't form as effectively, meaning you’ll retain less, understand less, and perform worse. So, next time you sit down to study or absorb something new, try a "single-tasking" experiment: silence your phone, close unnecessary tabs, and give your brain the space it needs to actually learn. You’ll likely finish faster and smarter.
Sources:
Ophir, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, A. D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(37), 15583–15587.
Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive Load During Problem Solving: Effects on Learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285.
This post was very interesting! It made a lot of sense to me. I always thought multitasking helped me get more done, but now I see it just made me more distracted. I’m going to try focusing on one thing at a time next time I study!
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie! I liked how you connected different psychological theories, like cognitive load and classical conditioning, and backed it up with empirical data, but it honestly left me wondering how those findings would hold up in 2025. I'm stuck between imagining that multitasking has only gotten worse with how much more advanced and constant our technology use has become, or on the other hand, playing devil’s advocate, and imaging that people have adapted and only gotten better at managing it. Your post gave me a lot to think about, especially in the context of our modern day societal issues, such as children growing up consistently being exposed to screens and technology. With technology being so deeply intertwined into nearly everything we do, including our education systems and how children learn, I wonder how it might be shaping attention, focus, and overall long-term outcomes for future generations.
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