Media multitasking is prevalent for young adults, and can significantly affect one's cognitive control. Cognitive control refers to a series of top-down mental processes in which individuals have to pay attention to a specific task, which consists of three central components: inhibition control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. To date, there are two contrasting hypotheses with regard to the relation between media multitasking and cognitive control: the scattered attention hypothesis and the trained attention hypothesis. The former argues that adolescents who use frequently several media simultaneously tend to have more attention problems, further leading to impaired cognitive control, while the latter suggests that media multitasking is a training process in which individuals shift their attention frequently from one stream of information to another, and thus exerting a positive effect on cognitive control. Existing studies have not reached a consistent conclusion. According to the comprehensive comparison, the discrepancy in previous studies may be due to the different levels of cognitive control measured by the questionnaire and standardized performance-based tasks. Moreover, little research has examined whether media multitasking affects cognitive control under Chinese cultural background. Thus, This study investigated the relation between media multitasking and cognitive control in real-life and laboratory situations in a sample of Chinese adolescents. Three central components of cognitive control were measured using the questionnaire and standardized performance-based tasks (Change detection task, Number-letter switching task, 2/3-back task for inhibition control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory, respectively).
In study 1, we surveyed 403 undergraduates (300 girls; Mage = 20.37 years, SDage = 2.25 years) with the media use questionnaire and adolescents' executive function scale. The statistical analyses consisted of descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis. The results showed that media multitasking negatively predicted self-reported inhibition control (β = .23, p < .001), cognitive flexibility (β = .14, p < .01), and working memory (β = .24, p < .001). In study 2, we recruited 66 participants (33 HMMs (heavy media multitaskers), 25 girls, MMMI = 5.17, SDMMI = .51, Mage = 19.61 years, SDage = 1.86 years; 33 LMMs (light media multitaskers), 27 girls, MMMI = 2.06, SDMMI = .34, Mage = 19.55 years, SDage= 1.31 years) from study 1 to complete the change detection task, the number-letter switching task, and the 2/3-back task. Descriptive statistical analysis, repeated-measures ANOVA, and independent-samples T tests were conducted. The results showed that: (1) In Change detection task, the group had the main effect on ACC, F(1, 61) = 5.08, p < .05, ηp2 = .08. The ACC of HMMs ( .79 ± .02) was significantly lower than that of LMMs ( .85 ± .02). (2) In the number-letter switching task, there were no significant differences in switching cost between HMMs and LMMs, t = .23, p > .05. (3) In the 2/3-back task, there were no significant differences in performance between HMMs and LMMs.
These findings support the scattered attention hypothesis, revealing a negative association between frequent media multitasking and cognitive ability in real-life and laboratory situations in Chinese cultural background.
Key words
media multitasking /
inhibition control /
cognitive flexibility /
working memory /
scattered attention hypothesis
{{custom_sec.title}}
{{custom_sec.title}}
{{custom_sec.content}}
References
[1] 黄春晖, 唐义诚, 王利刚, 谢东杰, 樊春雷, 高文斌. (2014). 青少年执行功能量表的编制. 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志, 23(5), 463-465.
[2] 刘晨, 孔繁昌, 周宗奎. (2014). 从一心一意到三心二意: 青少年的媒体多任务行为. 心理科学, 37(5), 1132-1139.
[3] 杨晓辉, 朱莉琪. (2014). 大学生的媒体多任务操作与个性及不良情绪. 中国心理卫生杂志, 28(4), 277-282.
[4] 中国互联网络信息中心. (2021).第 47 次中国互联网络发展状况统计报告. http://www.cnnic.net.cn/hlwfzyj/hlwxzbg/hlwtjbg/202102/P020210203334633480104.pdf
[5] 周浩, 龙立荣. (2004). 共同方法偏差的统计检验与控制方法. 心理科学进展, 12(6), 942-950.
[6] Alzahabi, R., & Becker, M. W. (2013). The association between media multitasking, task-switching, and dual-task performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 39(5), 1485-1495.
[7] Baumgartner S. E., van der schuur, W. A., Lemmens J. S., & te Poel F. (2018). The relationship between media multitasking and attention problems in adolescents: Results of two longitudinal studies. Human Communication Research, 44(1), 3-30.
[8] Baumgartner S. E., Weeda W. D., van der Heijden L. L., & Huizinga M. (2014). The relationship between media multitasking and executive function in early adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 34(8), 1120-1144.
[9] Brasel, S. A., & Gips, J. (2011). Media multitasking behavior: Concurrent television and computer usage. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(9), 527-534.
[10] Cain M. S., Leonard J. A., Gabrieli J. D. E., & Finn A. S. (2016). Media multitasking in adolescence. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 23(6), 1932-1941.
[11] Cain, M. S., & Mitroff, S. R. (2011). Distractor filtering in media multitaskers. Perception, 40(10), 1183-1192.
[12] Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135-168.
[13] Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. Doubleday.
[14] Magen, H. (2017). The relations between executive functions, media multitasking and polychronicity. Computers in Human Behavior, 67, 1-9.
[15] Miyake A., Friedman N. P., Emerson M. J., Witzki A. H., Howerter A., & Wager T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex "frontal lobe" tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49-100.
[16] Murphy, K., & Creux, O. (2021). Examining the association between media multitasking, and performance on working memory and inhibition tasks. Computers in Human Behavior, 114, Article 106532.
[17] Ophir E., Nass C., & Wagner A. D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(37), 15583-15587.
[18] Popławska A., Szumowska E., & Kuś J. (2021). Why do we need media multitasking? A self-regulatory perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 624649.
[19] Ralph, B. C. W., & Smilek, D. (2017). Individual differences in media multitasking and performance on the n-back. Attention, Perception and Psychophysics, 79(2), 582-592.
[20] Seddon A. L., Law A. S., Adams A.-M., & Simmons F. R. (2018). Exploring the relationship between executive functions and self-reported media-multitasking in young adults. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 30(7), 728-742.
[21] Toplak M. E., West R. F., & Stanovich K. E. (2013). Practitioner review: Do performance-based measures and ratings of executive function assess the same construct? The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(2), 131-143.
[22] Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2013). Five challenges for the future of media-effects research. International Journal of Communication, 7, 197-215.
[23] van der Schuur, W. A., Baumgartner S. E., Sumter S. R., & Valkenburg P. M. (2015). The consequences of media multitasking for youth: A review. Computers in Human Behavior, 53, 204-215.
[24] Wiradhany, W., & Nieuwenstein, M. R. (2017). Cognitive control in media multitaskers: Two replication studies and a meta-Analysis. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 79(8), 2620-2641.
[25] Yap, J. Y., & Lim, S. W. H. (2013). Media multitasking predicts unitary versus splitting visual focal attention. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25(7), 889-902.
PDF(1278 KB)
