Forecasting errors in student media multitasking during homework completion

FORCASTING ERRORS IN STUDENT MEDIA MULTITASKING DURING HOMEWORK COMPLETION. Christopher A. Baker, Brittany E. Noah, Charles C. Calderwood, Jeffrey D. Green, Jennifer A. Joy-Gaba & Jaclyn M. Moloney, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond VA 232842018. Many students report that they multitask with media while doing homework, but we know very little about why they engage in these behaviors, when considering that they are damaging to their homework performance. We conducted a study to explore the nature and accuracy of students’ predictions regarding media multitasking during homework completion. Sixty-one participants from an undergraduate psychology class predicted their mood and performance if they were and were not allowed to multitask. Participants then worked on their homework in the lab while providing mood ratings. We also obtained student permission to access homework grades. It was found that students predicted they would experience lower negative mood and performance if allowed to media multitask, but overestimated the impact of media multitasking on negative mood.