Multitasking found detrimental to study habits
By J.T. Buchheit
Special to The Ledger
Like it or not, students in school are always busy, be it studying for a test the next day or frantically trying to finish homework before the deadline. But the difference in the study habits of today’s students as opposed to those in the past is the propensity to multitask. One of the main reasons for this change is thought to be social media.
With the rise of social media has come a tendency for many people to split their attention between their work and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
“I think a lot of the reason is because we’ve become addicted to doing it and find it difficult to stop,” said Associate Professor of Psychology Jim Pettitt. “We get addicted to being in touch with these people all the time and find it difficult to withdraw from it.”
Studies have shown time and again that the constant use of social media is a detriment to the quality of a person’s study habits and how well one can recollect information. In a 2009 survey done by Stanford University, it was revealed that heavy multitaskers were slower at identifying changes in patterns, switching to new activities and identifying elements from earlier experiments than light multitaskers.
“A big problem area is [the students] are not giving themselves the needed downtime their brains need to rest and relax, and it affects how well people can comprehend information when reading and focusing,” said Mark Raduziner, professor and chair, Journalism and Media Communications. “When reading in a textbook, they forget what they just read because they’re so focused on other things.”
Even some of the students themselves admit to being negatively affected by the multitasking caused by their use of social media.
“I think it makes life seem more overwhelming because you’re trying to do multiple things at once,” said student Meagan Ziegler. “I think it also affects my sleep because I can’t stop thinking about a ton of different things.”
Although many people feel that they have conquered the art of multitasking and have the ability to concentrate on both their schoolwork and social media outlets, it has been shown that this is never the case.
“According to what we know about the brain, multitasking isn’t technically possible,” said Pettitt. “In reality, a person that says they are multitasking is actually just very quickly switching from one task to another. We’re usually only consciously capable of doing one thing at a time.”
Besides one’s studying and schoolwork, social media has been shown to have other effects on students as well. The average attention span of students has greatly decreased over the years, which can hinder one’s ability and willingness to study for an extended period of time. In addition to educators, the media has also had to adapt to this change, which they have done by taking advantage of social networking.
“Companies are able to use Twitter or Facebook to directly market to people and always keep them updated on the latest information or products being marketed,” said Raduziner.
Sites like Facebook and Twitter have had a profound effect on the way students study and use their time.
Although many people are able to get by in school while distracted by social media, if students want to truly excel in school, they have no choice but to buckle down and study the old-fashioned way.