Don't multitask while you read this!

Distractions diminish people's ability to remember, but important facts may still stick, according to the latest research.

What the researchers say: “In a world of computers and iPhones, it's rare that we're fully focused,” said the lead researcher. But how much do all of those distractions diminish our ability to remember? The new study found that while divided attention does impair memory, people can still selectively focus on what is most important—even while they're multitasking.

In one experiment, the researchers showed 192 students 120 words, divided into six groups of 20 words each. Each word was visible on a computer screen for three seconds, and each was paired with a number from 1 to 10. Researchers explained to the students that they would receive scores based on the point value of each word they remembered, making the words with high point values “more important” than the others.

The participants were assigned to one of four groups: One group gave the task their undivided attention. For the second group, researchers played audio of a voice reading numbers from one to 9 while students were viewing the words and their numeric values; students were told to press the space bar on their computer keyboard every time they heard three consecutive odd numbers.

(Having to juggle those two tasks proved very distracting: Each participant heard eight sequences of three odd numbers, but on average, they identified only 1.87 of the eight.)

A third group of participants heard familiar pop songs by Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Lady Gaga and Rihanna while they viewed the words. And a fourth group was asked to watch the words while listening to pop songs they hadn't heard before.

After each set of 20 words, participants were asked to type as many of the words as they could remember. The researchers calculated a total score for each student after each set of 20 words based on the number on the screen when each word appeared. So, if they remembered the word “twig,” which appeared on screen at the same time as a 10, and “corner,” which appeared with a 6, the participant would receive 16 points. The researchers then repeated the process for each student five times, taking them through all 120 words.

The researchers found that the first group of participants—those who viewed the words and numbers with no distractions—recalled an average of eight words from each set of 20, while those who were distracted by having to listen for consecutive odd numbers recalled an average of just five words. Both groups who listened to music while watching their screens remembered the words almost as well as the group of undistracted students.

But the scientists also found that multitasking did not affect students' ability to recall the information they were told was most important—the highest value words. Participants in all four groups were nearly five times as likely to recall a 10-point word as they were to remember a one-point word.

“Everybody consistently prioritized the high-value words and shifted their attention towards those,” said the study's lead author. “They all came to the realization that they needed to remember what is the most valuable, even though some were distracted and some weren't.”

“The data are very clear in showing that with divided attention, we don't remember as much, but we are still able to focus on what's most important,” she added.

The researchers also found that students' ability to remember information improved as the experiments progressed: In both studies, students in all four groups generally remembered more words by the sixth round of 20 words than they did in the first set.

So what? The issue of distraction and multitasking is one of the hottest in psychological research at the moment—as readers of TR will know. What we do know is that multitasking reduces overall concentration and productivity. It would seem that we are genetically predisposed to concentrate one thing at a time. This is especially true of men and it probably derives from hunting where single minded concentration in a potentially dangerous situation would presumably be adaptive. Women hunter-gatherers, on the other hand, had to search for berries and other fruits and plants while at the same time looking out for their children—multitasking. It would be adaptive for them to be better at coping with divided attention. These two—single mindedness and divided focus—would then be encoded in male and female DNA.

Presumably, this is a soft gene which is amenable to alteration of its expression with experience. In that way, men can learn to become more dual focused and women more single-minded (which seems to be the case). However since single-focus is the default for both genders of human there is a danger that the constant distractions of modern living will result in worse choices being made overall—and quite a few recent studies have shown that this is the case.

What now? The researchers behind this present study recommend that people who are learning new information avoid distractions as much as possible. The occasional interference will not stop us from focusing on what is important—especially of we can get so used to it as to “tune it out.” However the constant interruptions—such as found in open-plan offices—can be a real productivity killer (recent research has shown that such environments can reduce productivity by up to 25%--see previous TRs).