Breadth-biased versus focused cognitive control in media multitasking behaviors.

O phir, Nass, and Wagner report in this issue of PNAS (1) that heavy media multitaskers (HMMs) performed worse on task switching than light media multitaskers (LMMs), likely because of HMMs’ reduced ability to filter out interference from irrelevant stimuli and representations in memory. Their findings are surprising in that, intuitively, HMMs should be better at task switching (i.e., multitasking) because they frequently switch between tasks, a habit or expertise (if so) that should have helped them to be better multitaskers (task switchers). However, the findings are also not surprising in that, as pointed out by Ophir, Nass, and Wagner, HMMs tend to be breadth-biased in their behaviors and are inclined to pay attention to a larger scope of information instead of focusing on a particular piece of information. Such a behavior or habit has conditioned them to be less selective when it comes to filtering information and tasks in front of them. In other words, HMMs may have developed a habit of treating all of the information in front of them with equal (or almost equal) amounts of attention instead of focusing their attention steadily on a particular task. As a result, they performed worse than LMMs did when they were asked to focus attention on selective pieces. Ophir, Nass, and Wagner’s study (1) is significant in many respects. Research in media multitasking is in its early stages, although in recent years, media multitasking has become an increasingly popular phenomenon because of the development and convergence of many forms of new media and technologies (2). Media multitasking and its inherent mental habits of dividing attention, switching attention, and keeping multiple trains of thought in working memory have significant implications for the way people think, communicate, socialize, learn, and understand the world. Ophir, Nass, and Wagner’s study (1), with its solid theoretical framework, wellthought-out experimental designs, and in-depth analyses, sets a good foundation for future investigations into information processing behaviors and learning associated with new media and technologies. Here, I have intended to extend inquiries based on insights from their study.