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Study: Push Notifications As Distracting As Taking a Call

Posted by samzenpus on from the keep-your-eyes-on-the-road-your-hands-upon-the-wheel dept.

itwbennett writes: Researchers at Florida State University have found that simply being aware of a missed call or text can have the same damaging effect on task performance as actually using a mobile phone. 'Although these notifications are short in duration, they can prompt task-irrelevant thoughts, or mind-wandering,' the researchers wrote in their paper. In further bad news for chronic multitaskers, a new study by researchers at the University of Connecticut finds that 'students who multitasked while doing homework had to study longer, and those who frequently multitasked in class had lower grades on average than their peers who multitasked less often.'

6 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Music? by invictusvoyd · · Score: 2

    I frequently listen to music whilst working , studying , coding etc. Does that count as multitasking? AFAIK it only enhances my concentration and cuts off ambient noise .

    1. Re:Music? by omnichad · · Score: 2

      At least with driving, my own thoughts are a bigger distraction. Driving is one of those things that it can be hard to give 100% focus on a long drive, and I've had it drop to near 0% focus without something to keep my brain active. I'd rather be at 30% than have my visual cortex taken over by straying thoughts and daydreams.

  2. Focus! by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 5, Funny

    students who multitasked while doing homework had to study longer, and those who frequently multitasked in class had lower grades on average than their peers who multitasked less often

    This groundbreaking research has discovered that people that focus on what they are doing perform better than people that don't. I think we need more studies to confirm this.

  3. Distractions are distractions by Overzeetop · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'll just leave this here:

    http://www.studentpulse.com/ar...

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  4. In my day... by puddingebola · · Score: 3, Insightful

    My generation just had drugs and alcohol to destroy our attention span.

  5. Of course by Kohath · · Score: 2

    When the studies find out notifications aren't distracting, no one tells you about those studies.

    These types of headlines tend to lead to suggestions of more driving restrictions. But driving has never been safer. We don't need our every minute policed by punitive government overseers. We need fewer citizen/police interactions -- those interactions can be very dangerous.