Multitasking effect 1 RUNNING HEAD: MULTITASKING EFFECT Situational Factors Competing for Attention: The Interaction Effect of Multitasking and Sexually Explicit Content on TV Recognition

Multitasking effect 2 Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate how multitasking interacts with levels of sexually explicit content to influence an individual's ability to recognize TV content. A 2 (multitasking vs. non-multitasking) by 3 (low, medium and high sexual content) between-subjects experiment was conducted. The analyses revealed that multitasking not only impaired task performance but also decreased TV recognition. An inverted-U relationship between degree of sexually explicit content and recognition of TV content was found, but only when subjects were multitasking. In addition, multitasking interfered with subjects' ability to recognize audio information more than their ability to recognize visual information. Multitasking effect 3 Multitasking with media (heretofore multitasking), that is, using media while engaging in one or more other non-media activity, is found to be popular among youth. The Middletown Media Studies (2005a, 2005b) suggest that, based on observational data, media were often used with other life activities: 32.0% of newspaper reading, 39.7% of magazine time, 46.2% of TV watching, 58.6% of web surfing, and 75.6% of radio listening were accompanied by other non-media activity. Similarly, Foehr (2006) reported that among American youth, 45% of TV watching, 58% of music listening and 63% of websites use occurred during multitasking. A recent diary study of 14-to 22-year-olds (Jeong et al., 2005) found that 76% of the time respondents were using media they were also involved in one or more other activities (i.e., they were multitasking). Very few studies have explored multitasking's influence on attention paid to media. One exception was a study by Pezdek and Hartman (1983) who found that audience behaviors such as playing with a toy while watching TV reduced the recognition of TV content. Ignoring the situational factors that are present during media use raises important questions about the estimation of media effects, such as the effects of sexually explicit content. Researchers have found an increasing amount of sexual messages, including depictions of sexual risk and responsibility topics, were rarely addressed (Eyal, Kunkel, Biely, & Finnerty, 2007). Given the widely held belief that the sexual messages conveyed in the media are shaping adolescents and young adults' beliefs, attitudes, norms and intentions to have sex (Hennessy, Bleakley, Busse, & Fishbein, 2008), we can understand why sex in the media has been a concern of both parents and educators. Findings regarding the effects of exposure to sexual content suggested that exposure may influence a number of outcome …