Multitasking
Broadcast starting week of January 10, 2007

“To do two things at once - is to do neither,” Roman philosopher Publilius Syrus wrote in 100 A.D., and modern science may just be proving him right. Between the cell phone and the PDA, wi-fi and lattes – in short, between getting wired and going wireless – we are supposedly doing more in less time than ever. In fact, some believe the more we have to juggle – the more we multitask – the better. But is that really true? A growing body of research suggests that our pursuit of increased productivity through multitasking actually results in diminishing capacity.

The Infinite Mind looks at some of the many facets of multitasking as Dr. Peter Kramer speaks with Professor David Meyer, a research psychologist from the University of Michigan who’s tracked the downside of multitasking and Carleton Kendrick, Ed.M., LCSW, a family therapist who’s explored what happens when we don’t leave the multitasks at the office. Also on the program: The Infinite Mind’s Aaron Read takes us to Logan Airport to see multitasking in action; Ohio housewife Amy Seagar describes her fight against the use of cell phones by drivers and the tragic events that led to it; The Infinite Mind’s Jackson Braider examines the role of multitasking in the music of Charles Ives; and commentator Howard Bloom says we may act like we just invented multitasking, but we’ve really been doing it for years.

In his opening essay, host Dr. Peter Kramer explains how a visit to his copy editor long ago paired multitasking and power in his imagination. Now, he says, multitasking has not only lost its allure, it might even be reaching a point of diminishing returns. He asks when was the last time you did just one thing for a half-hour? 

Next, The Infinite Mind’s Aaron Read introduces listeners to the world of air traffic control as experienced in the control tower at Logan International Airport in Boston. Air traffic controllers are acknowledged masters of multitasking, but as Carol Manning of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Human Factors Research Laboratory explains, the secret behind their multitasking skills is surprisingly simple.

To hear FAA air traffic controllers in action, visit www.liveatc.net

Dr. Kramer then talks with Professor David Meyer from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Dr. Meyer, a research psychologist, demonstrates why multitasking, far from increasing our productivity, actually makes us less productive (see the experiment described below). Dr. Meyer also explains why driving and talking on the cell phone is a particularly bad multitasking combination. It’s as deadly as drinking and getting behind the wheel.

To learn more about Dr. Meyer and his research, visit his web page at University of Michigan.

Next, Ohio homemaker Amy Seagar explains how a yammering motorist changed her life forever. Now she’s a mother on a mission, and that’s to ban all drivers from using cell phones, even hands-free units, whenever they’re behind the wheel. To learn more about Amy Seagar’s campaign, visit the web site of the Advocates for Cell Phone Safety.

Dr. Kramer begins the second half of the show talking with Carleton Kendrick, a family therapist who’s seen how multitasking can take its toll on family life. The risk multitasking places on the parent/child relationship, Kendrick tells us, is greater than we imagine.

To read Carleton Kendrick’s advice to parents column, visit www.familyeducation.com please click here. Carleton Kendrick’s latest book, Take Out Your Nose Ring, Honey, We’re Going to Grandma’s, is available at Amazon.com

The Infinite Mind’s Jackson Braider then takes us into the concert hall, where we encounter an unlikely hero of American music, Charles Ives (1874-1954), an insurance salesman whose creative use of multitasking in his musical compositions recreated the parades and parties in his hometown of Danbury, Connecticut. Noted Ives biographer Jan Swafford says the beauty of Ives’s work can be found in how the composer made the connection between music and life, “including everyday life and everyday music.”

Jan Swafford’s biography Charles Ives: A Life with Music and Charles Ives’s Three Places in New England are available at Amazon.com

Finally, commentator and paleopsychologist Howard Bloom says that while we might think we’ve just invented multitasking, what with Blackberries and laptops and personal MP3 players, the fact is we’ve been doing it for a long, long time. At least since the "invention of the cell."

To learn more about Howard Bloom’s work, visit http://www.howardbloom.net

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Dr. Meyer’s multitasking Experiment

You’ll need a deck of cards and four quarters. Before you begin, pull all the 6s, 7s, 8s, and 9s from the deck and set the rest of the cards aside.

To start, place the seven of clubs to the left, the nine of hearts a half inch beside the seven to the right, then the six of spades, and finally the eight of hearts. Place each of the quarters about three inches below the row of cards in an even row. The quarters should be three inches from the edge of the table.

Part One. Numbers: Take the remaining 12 cards and shuffle them. Holding them face down, turn them over one by one, placing the sixes on the quarter below the six of spades, the sevens on the quarter below the seven of clubs, the eights below the eight and so on, saying the numbers as you place them.

How much time did it take?

Part Two. Suits: Shuffle the cards again. Holding them face down, turn them over one by one, this time sorting the cards by suit. You’ll put all the clubs below the club, all the hearts below the heart, etc., until you’ve gone through all twelve cards, saying the suits as you place them.

Again, how long did you need?

Part Three. Numbers and Suits Shuffle the cards one more time. Holding them face down, you will turn them over once again one by one. But this time, you will alternate between sorting by number and sorting by suit, starting with numbers. So, you will place the first card by its number, the second card by its suit, the third card by its number and so on until all twelve cards have been played. Be sure to announce the card as you place it.

If you’re like Dr. Kramer, you will spend a lot more time sorting by numbers and suits than you did using only one criterion.

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