Author(s): Andrea Younggren , Jack Lewis , Mark McCurdy

Presentation: poster

Ophir, Nass, and Wagner (2009) reported that individuals who routinely engage in multiple forms of media use are actually worse at multitasking, due possibly to an inability to ignore irrelevant stimuli, from both external sources and internal representations in memory. Using the Media Multitasking Index developed by Ophir et al. (2009), we identified Heavy Media Multitaskers (HMMs) and Light Media Multitaskers (LMMs) and tested them on measures of task switching, working memory, and fluid intelligence. In the current study, we attempted to replicate Ophir et al.’s finding of worse switching performance by HMMs as well as testing Heavy and Light Multitaskers on two measures of working memory, one requiring focused attention and the other requiring alternating between reading and remembering. Working Memory: Heavy Media Multitaskers scored worse than Light Media Multitaskers on the Raven’s Matrices, but better on the Reading Span, F(1,32) = 5.9, p < .05 Task switching: We found no significant differences between Heavy and Light Multitaskers in switching performance as measured by either mixing or switch cost.

The College of Idaho     2112 Cleveland Blvd Caldwell, ID  8360     USA 208-459-5011    800-2C-IDAHO