Editing Attention (section)

== Multitasking and divided attention ==
{{see also|Human multitasking|Distracted driving}}

Multitasking can be defined as the attempt to perform two or more tasks simultaneously; however, research shows that when multitasking, people make more mistakes or perform their tasks more slowly.<ref name=Matlin>{{cite book|title=Cognition|year=2013|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-1-118-14896-9 | vauthors = Matlin MW  |edition=8th | type = Textbook }}</ref>  Attention must be divided among all of the component tasks to perform them.  In divided attention, individuals attend or give attention to multiple sources of information at once or perform more than one task at the same time.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Gopher D, Iani C | chapter = Attention | chapter-url= http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wileycs/attention/0 | veditors =  Nadel L | title = Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science | location = London | publisher = Nature Publishing Company | isbn = 978-0-333-79261-2 | date = 2002 | access-date = 27 January 2017 }}</ref>

Older research involved looking at the limits of people performing simultaneous tasks like reading stories, while listening and writing something else,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Spelke E, Hirst W, Neisser U |title=Skills of divided attention |journal=Cognition |year=1976 |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=215–230 |doi=10.1016/0010-0277(76)90018-4 |s2cid=19019411 |url=https://www.msu.edu/~ema/802/Ch3-4-SpelkeEtAl75.pdf }}</ref> or listening to two separate messages through different ears (i.e., [[dichotic listening]]).  Generally, classical research into attention investigated the ability of people to learn new information when there were multiple tasks to be performed, or to probe the limits of our perception (cf. [[Donald Broadbent]]).  There is also older literature on people's performance on multiple tasks performed simultaneously, such as driving a car while tuning a radio<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Brown ID | title = Effect of a car radio on driving in traffic | journal = Ergonomics | volume = 8 | issue = 4 | pages = 475–9 | date = October 1965 | pmid = 5854152 | doi = 10.1080/00140136508930828 }}</ref> or driving while being on the phone.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Brown ID, Tickner AH, Simmonds DC | title = Interference between concurrent tasks of driving and telephoning | journal = The Journal of Applied Psychology | volume = 53 | issue = 5 | pages = 419–24 | date = October 1969 | pmid = 5366314 | doi = 10.1037/h0028103 }}</ref>

The vast majority of current research on human multitasking is based on performance of doing two tasks simultaneously,<ref name ="Matlin"/> usually that involves driving while performing another task, such as texting, eating, or even speaking to passengers in the vehicle, or with a friend over a cellphone.  This research reveals that the human attentional system has limits for what it can process: driving performance is worse while engaged in other tasks; drivers make more mistakes, brake harder and later, get into more accidents, veer into other lanes, and/or are less aware of their surroundings when engaged in the previously discussed tasks.<ref name="Strayer & Drews 2007">{{cite book | vauthors = Strayer DL, Drews FA |chapter=Multitasking in the automobile | veditors = Kramer AF, Wiegmann DA, Kirlik A |title=Attention: From Theory to Practice | url = https://archive.org/details/attentionfromthe00kram | url-access = limited |year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/attentionfromthe00kram/page/n133 121]–33 |isbn=978-0-19-530572-2 }}</ref><ref name="Salvucci & Taatgen 2008">{{cite journal | vauthors = Salvucci DD, Taatgen NA | title = Threaded cognition: an integrated theory of concurrent multitasking | journal = Psychological Review | volume = 115 | issue = 1 | pages = 101–30 | date = January 2008 | pmid = 18211187 | doi = 10.1037/0033-295x.115.1.101 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.140.3655 | s2cid = 14785507 }}</ref><ref name="Collet et al 2009">{{cite journal | vauthors = Collet C, Clarion A, Morel M, Chapon A, Petit C | title = Physiological and behavioural changes associated to the management of secondary tasks while driving | journal = Applied Ergonomics | volume = 40 | issue = 6 | pages = 1041–6 | date = November 2009 | pmid = 19249012 | doi = 10.1016/j.apergo.2009.01.007 }}</ref>

There has been little difference found between speaking on a hands-free cell phone or a hand-held cell phone,<ref name="Chabris & Simmons, 2010">{{cite book | vauthors = Chabris CF, Simons DJ |title=The Invisible Gorilla and Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us | url = https://archive.org/details/invisiblegorilla0000chab | url-access = registration |year=2010 |publisher=Crown |location=New York }}</ref><ref name="Folks, 2010">{{cite book | vauthors = Folk CL |chapter=Attention: Divided | veditors = Goldstein EB |title=Encyclopedia of Perception | url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaperc00gold | url-access = limited |year=2010 |publisher=Sage |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaperc00gold/page/n131 84]–7 |isbn=9781412940818 }}</ref> which suggests that it is the strain of attentional system that causes problems, rather than what the driver is doing with his or her hands.  While speaking with a passenger is as cognitively demanding as speaking with a friend over the phone,<ref name="Strayer et al. 2012">{{cite web | vauthors = Strayer DL, Cooper JM, Turrill J, Coleman J, Medeiros-Ward N, Biondi F |title= Measuring Cognitive Distraction in the Automobile |date= June 2013 |url= https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/default/files/MeasuringCognitiveDistractions.pdf |publisher= AAA |type= Research Report |access-date= 2013-11-06 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131028233322/https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/default/files/MeasuringCognitiveDistractions.pdf |archive-date= 2013-10-28 |url-status= dead  }}</ref> passengers are able to change the conversation based upon the needs of the driver.  For example, if traffic intensifies, a passenger may stop talking to allow the driver to navigate the increasingly difficult roadway; a conversation partner over a phone would not be aware of the change in environment.

There have been multiple theories regarding divided attention. One, conceived by cognitive scientist [[Daniel Kahneman]],<ref name="Attention & Effort">{{cite book| vauthors = Kahneman D |title=Attention and Effort|year=1973|publisher=Prentice-Hall|location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ|url=http://www.princeton.edu/~kahneman/docs/attention_and_effort/Attention_lo_quality.pdf}}</ref> explains that there is a single pool of attentional resources that can be freely divided among multiple tasks. This model seems oversimplified, however, due to the different modalities (e.g., visual, auditory, verbal) that are perceived.<ref name="Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012">{{cite book|title=Cognitive Psychology|year=2012|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1133313915| vauthors = Sternberg RJ, Sternberg K  |type=Textbook}}</ref> When the two simultaneous tasks use the same modality, such as listening to a radio station and writing a paper, it is much more difficult to concentrate on both because the tasks are likely to interfere with each other. The specific modality model was theorized by Cognitive Psychologists David Navon and Daniel [[Daniel Gopher|Gopher]] in 1979. However, more recent research using well controlled dual-task paradigms points at the importance of tasks.<ref name="Wahn & König 2017">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wahn B, König P | title = Is Attentional Resource Allocation Across Sensory Modalities Task-Dependent? | journal = Advances in Cognitive Psychology | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | pages = 83–96 | year = 2017 | pmid = 28450975 | pmc = 5405449 | doi = 10.5709/acp-0209-2 }}</ref>

As an alternative, resource theory has been proposed as a more accurate metaphor for explaining divided attention on complex tasks. Resource theory states that as each complex task is automatized, performing that task requires less of the individual's limited-capacity attentional resources.<ref name="Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012"/> Other variables play a part in our ability to pay attention to and concentrate on many tasks at once. These include, but are not limited to, anxiety, arousal, task difficulty, and skills.<ref name="Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012"/>