Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
The Impact of Concurrent and Sequential Media Multitasking on Performance: The Role of Task Relevance and Working Memory. |
| Authors: |
Zhong, Weijian, Wang, Xiaozhe, Sun, Yan, Liu, Yan |
| Source: |
Media Psychology; 2026, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p627-650, 24p |
| Subject Terms: |
Cognitive load, Cognitive ability, Short-term memory, Human multitasking |
| Abstract: |
In response to the growing prevalence of media multitasking, researchers have consistently expressed concerns about its implications for task performance and the influencing factors involved. Past studies on concurrent and sequential media multitasking have yielded mixed results. Our two experiments, grounded in cognitive load theory and threaded cognition theory, aimed to explore the differential effects of media multitasking types and its influencing factors. The simulated daily media multitasking scenario featured a split-screen presentation, displaying a movie and a mobile chat interface simultaneously on a computer screen. A total of 404 college students from China participated in the study. Study 1 (N = 105, Mage = 22.09) compared two types of multitasking and showed that sequential switching yielded higher comprehension and recall than concurrent processing. Study 2 (N = 299, Mage = 21.80) manipulated task relevance and measured working memory capacity with the Computation Span Task. As the video and chat became more semantically related, the performance gap between concurrent and sequential conditions narrowed; meanwhile, individuals with lower working memory exhibited larger deficits under concurrency. Together, the experiments demonstrate that the cognitive cost of media multitasking depends on timing (concurrent vs. sequential), task relevance, and individual working memory resources. Our findings have practical implications, offering actionable suggestions for real-life media multitasking behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: |
Complementary Index |