Multitasking:

Why Your Brain Can’t Do It and What

You Should Do About It.
Earl K. Miller
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ekmillerlab.mit.edu
 MULTITASKING?
Our human solution to cheating time!
Performing multiple tasks simultaneously...or so we think!

Effective multitasking is a MYTH!

 MULTITASKING?
Our human solution to cheating time!
Performing multiple tasks simultaneously...or so we think!

Reality: Your brain has a very limited capacity for multiple simultaneous thoughts.

When you “multitask” you are actually switching between the tasks, at great cost!
 Today’s Main Take-Home Message:
Don’t use your cell phone when you drive.

Regardless of how good

you think you are at it, you
are not.

Distracted driving
accounts up to 50% of
accidents.
The Myth of Multitasking: You are sipping at the outside world through a straw.
1. You only see clearly at the very center of vision

Light receptors in
your eye are much
denser at your
center of vision (the
fovea)

As a result, you only see a small

portion of the world in clarity at any
given moment.
The Myth of Multitasking: You are sipping at the outside world through a straw.
1. You only see clearly at the very center of vision

Your eyes are constantly darting around (~4/sec), taking in small pieces of high clarity.

Your brain pieces together these brief snapshots into an illusion of a visual scene in which you
clearly perceive everything simultaneously.
The Myth of Multitasking: You are sipping at the outside world through a straw.
Your brain gives you the illusion that you see more than you do because fills in blanks with
predictions: “If nothing was there a fraction of a second ago, there is nothing there now.”
The Myth of Multitasking: You are sipping at the outside world through a straw.
Your brain gives you the illusion that you see more than you do because fills in blanks with
predictions: “If nothing was there a fraction of a second ago, there is nothing there now.”

The problem is that things can change quickly in a fraction of a second.

The Myth of Multitasking: You are sipping at the outside world through a straw.
But the problem is even worse:
Your brain has a limited capacity for simultaneous thought.
It can only take in a few sips at a time!
The Myth of Multitasking: You are sipping at the outside world through a straw.
Each sip has a very limited bandwidth

Your eyes are constantly darting around (~4/sec), taking in small pieces of high clarity.

Your brain can only perceive and process about 3-4 things simultaneously
The Myth of Multitasking: You are sipping at the outside world through a straw.
The average adult human can, at best, think only 3-4 things simultaneously.
This is called cognitive capacity.

A test of cognitive capacity:

How many colored squares can you hold in mind?

Get ready!

Which square
changed color?
1 sec. memory delay
Time
A Bit of Science: Why Can You Only Hold a Few Things in Mind?
Brain waves: coordinated oscillations of the activity of millions of neurons.
Oscillations from 1/sec to >100/sec.

EEG recordings of brain waves

A Bit of Science: Why Can You Only Hold a Few Things in Mind?
Brain waves: coordinated oscillations of the activity of millions of neurons.
Oscillations from 1/sec to >100/sec.
Brain wave may keep multiple
thoughts from interfering with one
another by “juggling” the thoughts
(oscillating them out of phase of
one another) – Siegel, Warden, and
Miller (2009)
EEG recordings of brain waves
A Bit of Science: Why Can You Only Hold a Few Things in Mind?
Brain waves: coordinated oscillations of the activity of millions of neurons.
Oscillations from 1/sec to >100/sec.
Brain wave may keep multiple
thoughts from interfering with one
another by “juggling” the thoughts
(oscillating them out of phase of
one another) – Siegel, Warden, and
Miller (2009)
EEG recordings of brain waves

The cost is limited capacity for thought:

Only a few thoughts can fit in each
brain wave (i.e., only a few balls can be
juggled at a time).
The Myth of Multitasking: You are sipping at the outside world through a straw.
Limited clarity of vision + limited cognitive capacity = A bit of perception and a lot of mental
filling of the blanks.

Talking on the phone Not talking on the phone

The Myth of Multitasking: You are sipping at the outside world through a straw.
Limited clarity of vision + limited cognitive capacity = A bit of perception and a lot of mental
filling of the blanks.

The problem: Attention to one thing means much less attention (perception) of other things.

Talking on the phone Not talking on the phone

The Myth of Multitasking: You are sipping at the outside world through a straw.
Limited clarity of vision + limited cognitive capacity = A bit of perception and a lot of mental
filling of the blanks.

Don’t believe me? Let’s take a test!

Talking on the phone Not talking on the phone

 FRIGHTENING STUDIES
Using a driving simulator, David Strayer and co showed that we’re WAAAAY more impaired than we
think when driving while on a cell phone call!

• Eyetracking shows phoning drivers fail to notice

HALF the items falling on retina!!!

• More than twice as likely to miss a traffic signal

• React substantially slower to info they did detect

Cell phone use while driving induces a form of inattentional blindness

 What About Hands-free Phones?
Q: Are people better at multitasking (e.g., phoning and
driving) with hands-free cell phone?
 What About Hands-free Phones?
Q: Are people better at multitasking (e.g., phoning and
driving) with hands-free cell phone?

If you keep your eyes on the

road, you won’t miss anything,
right?
 What About Hands-free Phones?
Q: Are people better at multitasking (e.g., phoning and
driving) with hands-free cell phone?

If you keep your eyes on the

road, you won’t miss anything,
right?

Let’s take a test!

 What About Hands-free Phones?
Q: Are people better at multitasking (e.g., phoning and
driving) with hands-free cell phone?

A: There’s ZERO difference in distractibility between handheld

and hands-free!!!
 Does Practice Make Perfect?
Q: Can you get better at multitasking if you keep at it?
Why Is Talking on Cell Phones So Bad, If Talking to a Passenger is OK?
Why Is Talking on Cell Phones So Bad, If Talking to a Passenger is OK?

Trying to do two things at once requires “executive brain control” to coordinate

them. Because of our limited capacity, we have to make moment-to-moment
decisions about priority.
Why Is Talking on Cell Phones So Bad, If Talking to a Passenger is OK?

Trying to do two things at once requires “executive brain control” to coordinate

them. Because of our limited capacity, we have to make moment-to-moment
decisions about priority.

A passenger helps (or least doesn’t hurt) this coordination.

Passenger adjusts conversation
timing depending on driving Passenger also acts as 2nd
source of coordination… ...and attention
demands
 Does Practice Make Perfect?
Q: Can you get better at multitasking if you keep at it?
Chronic vs. light cell phone drivers.

=
 Does Practice Make Perfect?
Q: Can you get better at multitasking if you keep at it?
Chronic vs. light cell phone drivers.
Driving simulation tests found no difference in distractibility!

People who report being “well-practiced” at using cell phones when

driving miss as many things as people who rarely do it.
Are Some People Better At Multitasking?
 Are Some People Better At Multitasking?
Some people think they are, but they are actually worse!
Ophir et al (2009) asked 100s of Stanford students, Do you multitask a lot or a little?

Get ready!

Which square
changed color?
1 sec. memory delay
Time

Students who multitask a lot actually have a lower, not higher,

cognitive capacity.
 Multitasking and Self-Delusion
Melina Uncapher’s (Stanford) studies have shown that heavy multitaskers are
more distractible to irrelevant information.
 Multitasking and Self-Delusion
Melina Uncapher’s (Stanford) studies have shown that heavy multitaskers are
more distractible to irrelevant information.
More sensation-seeking and impulsive
HIGHLY confident in ability to efficiently multitask (even they are bad
at it)!
 Multitasking and Self-Delusion
Melina Uncapher’s (Stanford) studies have shown that heavy multitaskers are
more distractible to irrelevant information.
More sensation-seeking and impulsive
HIGHLY confident in ability to efficiently multitask (even they are bad
at it)!
Perceived ability and actual
ability inversely related
Overconfidence (rather than
skill) may drive proliferation of
multitasking.
 Multitasking and Self-Delusion
Melina Uncapher’s (Stanford) studies have shown that heavy multitaskers are
more distractible to irrelevant information.
More sensation-seeking and impulsive
HIGHLY confident in ability to efficiently multitask (even they are bad
at it)!
Perceived ability and actual
ability inversely related
Overconfidence (rather than
skill) may drive proliferation of
multitasking.

People don’t multitask more because they are better at

it. They multitask more because they are more
distractible (can’t help themselves) and have an
inflated confidence in their abilities to multitask.
Another Cost of Multitasking: Reduced Cognitive Ability

Because of our limited cognitive capacity, we don’t really

multitask. We rapidly switch between tasks.

This results in “switch costs”. We cognitively stumble

(slow down, make mistakes) as our brain’s reconfigure to
the new task.
 Another Cost of Multitasking: Reduced Cognitive Ability

Because of our limited cognitive capacity, we don’t really

multitask. We rapidly switch between tasks.

This results in “switch costs”. We cognitively stumble

(slow down, make mistakes) as our brain’s reconfigure to
the new task.

• Loss of productivity. You can spend of good proportion of your day switching
instead of doing.

• More errors.

• Reduced depth-of-thought. Less time spent thinking = less depth.

 Why Do We Like To Multitask?
Our brain finds information rewarding. Our brains evolved in an
environment where new information was usually important.

Our brain did not evolve to deal with

our information-rich modern world.

It is hard to ignore that informational

“tap on the shoulder” even though it is
often counter-productive in our modern
world.
 Multitasking: What Should We Do?
Use your “executive brain” – Plan to single-task

• Avoid temptation. Go “off-grid”. Put away your cell phone when you drive.
Turn off your email/web access for a while.
 Multitasking: What Should We Do?
Use your “executive brain” – Plan to single-task

• Avoid temptation. Go “off-grid”. Put away your cell phone when you drive.
Turn off your email/web access for a while.

• Block out time to single task. Tell yourself that you will work on project X and
nothing else for the next few hours
 Multitasking: What Should We Do?
Use your “executive brain” – Plan to single-task

• Avoid temptation. Go “off-grid”. Put away your cell phone when you drive.
Turn off your email/web access for a while.

• Block out time to single task. Tell yourself that you will work on project X and
nothing else for the next few hours

• Prioritize. Work on your most important tasks first. Then you won’t feel
pressure to multitask.
 Multitasking: What Should We Do?
Use your “executive brain” – Plan to single-task

• Avoid temptation. Go “off-grid”. Put away your cell phone when you drive.
Turn off your email/web access for a while.

• Block out time to single task. Tell yourself that you will work on project X and
nothing else for the next few hours

• Prioritize. Work on your most important tasks first. Then you won’t feel
pressure to multitask.

• Be self-aware and resist. Recognize that humans have the temptation to multi-
task but that it is not effective.