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Human Multitasking
Human multitasking is the concept that one can split their attention on more than one task or activity at the same time, such as speaking on the phone while driving a car. Multitasking can result in time wasted due to human context switching and becoming prone to errors due to insufficient attention. If one becomes proficient at two tasks, it is possible to rapidly shift attention between the tasks and perform the tasks well. Etymology The first published use of the word "multitask" appeared in an IBM paper describing the capabilities of the IBM System/360 in 1965. The term has since been applied to human tasks. Research Since the 1960s, psychologists have conducted experiments on the nature and limits of human multitasking. The simplest experimental design used to investigate human multitasking is the so-called psychological refractory period effect. Here, people are asked to make separate responses to each of two stimuli presented close together in time. An extremely general ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generation Y
Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years, with the generation typically being defined as people born from 1981 to 1996. Most millennials are the children of baby boomers and older Generation X; millennials are often the parents of Generation Alpha. Across the globe, young people have postponed marriage. Millennials were born at a time of declining fertility rates around the world, and are having fewer children than their predecessors. Those in developing nations will continue to constitute the bulk of global population growth. In the developed world, young people of the 2010s were less inclined to have sexual intercourse compared to their predecessors when they were at the same age. In the West, they are less likely to be religious than their predecessors, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Task Switching (psychology)
Task switching, or set-shifting, is an executive function that involves the ability to ''unconsciously'' shift attention between one task and another. In contrast, cognitive shifting is a very similar executive function, but it involves ''conscious'' (not unconscious) change in attention. Together, these two functions are subcategories of the broader cognitive flexibility concept. Task switching allows a person to rapidly and efficiently adapt to different situations. It is often studied by cognitive and experimental psychologists, and can be tested experimentally using tasks like the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Deficits in task switching are commonly observed in patients with Parkinson's disease, and in those on the autism spectrum. Background and history Human behavior and cognition are characterized by the ability to adapt to a dynamic environment, whether in attention, action, or both. This ability to shift attention and action adaptively has been investigated in the la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polychronicity
Chronemics is the role of time in communication. It is one of several subcategories to emerge from the study of nonverbal communication. According to the ''Encyclopedia of Special Education'' "Chronemics includes time orientation, understanding and organization; use of and reaction to time pressures; our innate and learned awareness of time; wearing or not wearing a watch; arriving, starting, and ending late or on time." A person's perception and values placed on time plays a considerable role in their communication process. The use of time can affect lifestyles, personal relationships, and work life. Across cultures, people usually have different time perceptions, and this can result in conflicts between individuals. Time perceptions include punctuality, interactions, and willingness to wait. Three main types of time in chronemics are: interactive, conceptual, and social. Definition Thomas J. Bruneau, a professor in communication at Radford University who focused his studies on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pareto Principle
The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes (the "vital few"). Other names for this principle are the 80/20 rule, the law of the vital few, or the principle of factor sparsity. Management consultant Joseph M. Juran developed the concept in the context of quality control and improvement after reading the works of Italian sociologist and economist Vilfredo Pareto, who wrote about the 80/20 connection while teaching at the University of Lausanne. In his first work, ''Cours d'économie politique'', Pareto showed that approximately 80% of the land in the Kingdom of Italy was owned by 20% of the population. The Pareto principle is only tangentially related to the Pareto efficiency. Mathematically, the 80/20 rule is roughly described by a power law distribution (also known as a Pareto distribution) for a particular set of parameters. Many natural phenomena distribute according to power law statistics. It is an adage of bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ovsiankina Effect
The Ovsiankina effect is the tendency to pick up an interrupted action again when it has still not been achieved. It is named after its researcher, Maria Ovsiankina. The effect states that an interrupted task, even without incentive, values as a "quasi-need". It creates intrusive thoughts, aimed at taking up the task again and possibly resulting into cognitive dissonance. This can be explained by Kurt Lewin's field theory, which points that an interrupted action is a condition for a strained system. It also leads to a better remembering of the unfinished action over a vacant one (Zeigarnik effect). See also * Human multitasking * Rumination (psychology) Rumination is the focused attention on the symptoms of one's distress, and on its possible causes and consequences, as opposed to its solutions, according to the ''Response Styles Theory'' proposed by Nolen-Hoeksema (1998). Because the Respo ... References {{Reflist Psychological effects ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multi-boxing
Multi-boxing or multiboxing refers to playing as multiple separate characters concurrently in an MMORPG. This can either be achieved by using multiple separate machines to run the game or by running multiple separate instances of the game. Multiboxing is considered to be difficult to do well without practice, as it involves adapting to problems in real-time. Variations on the term are common. Often, the number of accounts used is reflected in the term used: ''dual-boxing'' or ''two-boxing'' for two characters, ''three-boxing'' for three etc. On MUDs (the predecessors of MMORPGs) multiboxing is easy to accomplish on a single machine using a MUD client, and the practice is generally called multiplaying. In 2018 The Mud Connector listed 955 MUDs of which 605 allow multiplaying. Reasons for use Multiboxing is done for several reasons. People may enjoy the additional challenge it can bring, as well as being able to tackle more difficult monsters by themselves. Sometimes it is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Media Multitasking
Media multitasking is the concurrent use of multiple digital media streams. Media multitasking has been associated with depressive symptoms and social anxiety by a single study involving 318 participants. A 2018 review found that while the literature is sparse and inconclusive, people who do a heavy amount of media multitasking have poorer performance in several cognitive domains. One of the authors commented that while the data does not "unambiguously show that media multitasking causes a change in attention and memory," media multitasking is an inefficient practice that requires " task switching" costs. In many cases, media multitasking is made up of experiences that are not necessarily intended to be combined or coordinated. For example, a user may be browsing the Web, listening to music, playing video games, using e-mail, and/or talking on the phone while watching TV. More intentionally coordinated forms of media multitasking are emerging in the form of "co-active media" and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Reliability
Human reliability (also known as human performance or HU) is related to the field of human factors and ergonomics, and refers to the reliability of humans in fields including manufacturing, medicine and nuclear power. Human performance can be affected by many factors such as age, state of mind, physical health, attitude, emotions, propensity for certain common mistakes, errors and cognitive biases, etc. Human reliability is very important due to the contributions of humans to the resilience of systems and to possible adverse consequences of human errors or oversights, especially when the human is a crucial part of the large socio-technical systems as is common today. User-centered design and error-tolerant design are just two of many terms used to describe efforts to make technology better suited to operation by humans. Common Traps of Human Nature People tend to overestimate their ability to maintain control when they are doing work. The common characteristics of hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Directed Attention Fatigue
Directed attention fatigue (DAF) is a neuro-psychological phenomenon that results from overuse of the brain's inhibitory attention mechanisms, which handle incoming distractions while maintaining focus on a specific task. The greatest threat to a given focus of attention is competition from other stimuli that can cause a shift in focus. This is because one maintains focus on a particular thought by inhibiting all potential distractions and not by strengthening that central mental activity. Directed attention fatigue occurs when a particular part of the brain's global inhibitory system is overworked due to the suppression of increasing numbers of stimuli. This temporary condition is not a clinical illness or a personality disorder. It is rather a temporary fatigue of the inhibitory mechanisms in the brain. According to inhibition theory, it is natural for one to alternate between periods of attention and distraction. Although one's efforts may involve very different tasks, each inco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crossmodal Attention
Crossmodal attention refers to the distribution of attention to different senses. Attention is the cognitive process of selectively emphasizing and ignoring sensory stimuli. According to the crossmodal attention perspective, attention often occurs simultaneously through multiple sensory modalities. These modalities process information from the different sensory fields, such as: visual, auditory, spatial, and tactile. While each of these is designed to process a specific type of sensory information, there is considerable overlap between them which has led researchers to question whether attention is modality-specific or the result of shared "cross-modal" resources. ''Cross-modal attention'' is considered to be the overlap between modalities that can both enhance and limit attentional processing. The most common example given of crossmodal attention is the Cocktail Party Effect, which is when a person is able to focus and attend to one important stimulus instead of other less impor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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