1. MULTITASKING AND ITS NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON LEARNING Eddie Mezian Mrs. Halajian AP Literature and Composition 15 April 2008

2. WHAT IS MULTITASKING?  Doing several things at once  To perform more than one task at the same time

3. UCLA EXPERIMENT I  Russell Poldrack, UCLA, Associate Professor of Psychology  Fourteen people  Average age  26  Clues about cards with different shapes  Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

4. UCLA EXPERIMENT II  Demonstrated multitasking will restrict the “extrapolating” of information in the future.  “Learning while distracted or multitasking alters the brain’s learning processes and changes the way people learn.” – Russell Poldrack, UCLA

5. WHY?  fMRI showed: When not multitasking, hippocampus was initiated When not multitasking, hippocampus was initiated When multitasking, striatum was initiated. When multitasking, striatum was initiated.

7. EXAMPLES OF USELESS DISTRACTION TOOLS  Cell phones  Mp3 players (iPod)  Computers (instant messaging, MySpace, Facebook)

8. CRITICAL CHANGES ALREADY MADE BY ANOTHER  Patti Lewis, marketing professor Restricts students from using laptops Restricts students from using laptops “e-mail, instant messages, and Web sites such as Facebook easily distracted students.“e-mail, instant messages, and Web sites such as Facebook easily distracted students.

9. NOT ONLY ME!  Marriane J. Legato, MD, FACP, Professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University “When I need to concentrate on writing, it’s helpful for me to turn off my phone and my e- mail program, with its constant ‘new mail’ alerts, so that I can better and more purely concentrate on the task at hand.” “When I need to concentrate on writing, it’s helpful for me to turn off my phone and my e- mail program, with its constant ‘new mail’ alerts, so that I can better and more purely concentrate on the task at hand.”

10. NEGATIVE EFFECTS  Much longer studying hours  Not be able to reproduce info in future  Not able to imbibe in mind as efficiently  Not able to perform as well in school or wherever you are studying

11. POSITIVE EFFECTS  Able to reproduce info in future  Much less time studying  Will stay in mind for longer period of time  Will be able to perform in school much more successfully

12. MAIN POINTS  Concentration is key  Turn any distraction off  Stay in quiet room  STAY FOCUSED!

13. IMPORTANT NOTE  Multitasking for unimportant things can be done: Examples Examples Exercising and listening to musicExercising and listening to music Talking on the phone and watching TVTalking on the phone and watching TV

14. MULTITASKING MAY VITALLY EFFECT ALSO…  Driving  Work  Cooking  STUDYING