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Multitasking is performing two or more tasks at the same time.

In order to multitask, you must use Divided Attention - the attempt to respond, seemingly simultaneously, to multiple tasks or demands.

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1. Practise - if you are well practised at the tasks, you will find multitasking easier

Evidence - Scheider and Shiffin (1997)

- When participants completed a divided attention task, performance was initially 55% correct
- After 900 trials (practise) this rose to 90%
- After 600 trials they reported a sense of automaticity

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2. Task difficulty - if the tasks you are doing are difficult and take more cognitive skills/concentration, you will find it harder to multitask
Evidence -
- In the same study, when the task was made harder, no automaticity was shown

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3. Task similarity - if the tasks you are doing at the same time are similar, you will find it harder to multitask
Evidence - McCleod (1977):
- Participants had to identify tones by pointing at them or identifying them verbally.
- At the same time they had to trace a line (with the other hand)
- There were more errors in the line when they had to point.

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Stranger and Johnson
-participants had to react to a red light by pressing the brakes
-those using a phone were far more likely to be slower to hit the brakes, and miss red lights

Redelmeier and Tibshirani
- examined phone call records of drivers involved in collisions
-using a mobile phone quadrupled chance of collision

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Caird et al
- Meta analysis study
- Typing and reading texts while driving caused adverse eye movements, stimulus detection, poor reaction time.
- Bigger impact when typing compared to reading

Potential Hierarchy of Phones impact on driving? Typing>Reading>Talking>Listening

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-Both Stranger & Johnson, and Redelmeier & Tibshirani found that there was no difference in the results, when using a hands free phone.
- The impact is the same
- Suggests that it's not about hands on the wheel, but the cognitive resources involved with using the phone, that should be used for driving

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Drews, Pasupathi & Strayer
- There is not the same impact when talking to passengers in the car
- This is because conversation adapts as both the driver and passenger can see traffic
- Conversation may stop during busy traffic/ tricky navigation
- sometimes conversation directed to traffic

However- depends on passenger
- annoying "backseat drivers" might try and be too controlling
- this can put off the driver. negative impact

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Caird et al
- Meta analysis study
- Reaction times to events
- Increased by 250ms when on the phone
- Effect larger when talking rather than listening -> talking potentially requires more attention than listening (cognitive resources)

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While it is illegal to hold a phone while driving, the law allows the use of:

a Bluetooth headset

voice command

a dashboard holder or mat

a windscreen mount

a built-in sat nav

- This goes against evidence from Stranger & Johnson, and Redelmeier & Tibshirani

- Should these really be allowed? How big are the differences in adverse eye movement when looking at a phone on a dashboard holder as opposed to in a hand? Potentially they still pose some risk?

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Fig. 5. Reaction time using mobile phones by age

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While Redelmeier and Tibshiri found that age had no impact on the relative risk of a collision when using a phone, there is contrasting research suggesting that age may at the very least have an impact on reaction time when using a phone.

-TH Woo, J Lin (2001)
- measured reaction time to stimuli while using a mobile phone
- They found that age differences were significant for mobile phone use
- In most cases (see figure 5), older participants were more likely to react slower to stimuli when using a phone, than younger participants.
- The 'Pedestrian Intrusion' reaction time is interesting (potential link to how long they've been driving)

(https://doi.org/10.1016/S0386-1112(14)60066-2)