Multitasking and attention

This fall I've been taking a course in cognitive psychology, and below is an interesting thought from it. There's quite a lot we leave unnoticed, especially when our focus is on some particular thing. That's completely natural. So what have we actually missed - just today, for instance? And if we connect that to the fact that we often shift focus between several different tasks, for example during a workday. We read emails, answer the phone, get interrupted with questions, and so on. In many jobs it's important that no mistakes happen, because the consequences can be serious, and mistakes often happen precisely because something was missed.

As I mentioned, this is simply part of human nature. The brain filters out a lot of things that aren't relevant to a given task, so that concentration is maintained and the brain can perform optimally. That's actually a good thing, but what happens when focus switches back and forth many times between different tasks over an entire workday? In other words, when focus keeps getting interrupted, again and again. Are our brains built for that? Have those of us living today managed to teach our brains new ways of coping and tolerate more? Can the brain handle it, or does it start to, so to speak, "boil over"? We live in a world with a fast pace. We're expected to get a lot done, reach the goals we've set, keep learning new things all the time, and stay up to date in a constantly changing world - the clock keeps ticking, telling us whether we're ahead or behind. And when focus keeps shifting, we blame it on our memory failing us. Does it happen to you often - asking yourself: wait, where was I? What was I going to get? What was I doing?

There's a lot of talk about "multitasking" being a skill you should master, and my sense is that the word is used to create an image of getting a lot done and being highly efficient. Another expression is "juggling several balls in the air." That means trying to handle several different things at once by switching focus back and forth. The brain can certainly do this, at least for a while, but it really isn't efficient. Whatever you're doing requires 100% focus, not 20%. So the best approach is to do one thing at a time and see it through to completion.

The word "multitasking" and divided attention are two different things. Divided attention also means being able to do several things at the same time - for example, driving a car, listening to the radio, singing, and following the traffic all at once. But what's different here is that these things run automatically for us. You've learned to drive without needing to think about how to make the car move forward, your hearing works automatically, and when you sing, the lyrics come from memory (assuming the song is familiar). This means you're able to pay attention to the traffic, because these other things don't require your attention thanks to that automaticity. If, at that point, you get a text message and reply to it, your focus on the traffic breaks. Both tasks then require your visual attention, which means a competing situation arises. Logically, then: don't answer the text.

This brings up a thought: when driving on the highway, people tend to keep an eye out for speed cameras. Of course, you don't need to watch for them if you're driving within the speed limit, but I think we still tend to try to spot them. Has this behavior already become automatic for us? And what happens when we notice a speed camera? Almost certainly, you check your speed, and you're of course aware of what the speed limit is in that particular spot, since you've also seen the signs. What happens if the speed limits keep changing rapidly between 60, 80, and 100? You're probably also keeping an eye on the edge of the forest, just in case a moose happens to be out for a stroll. And of course, your attention is also on the ordinary traffic around you.

All of these tasks keep the visual sense active. Add to that the fact that it's dark out, your passenger is talking on the phone, and you're listening to the radio. I think this creates a kind of competing situation here too, even though some of the tasks are automatic. This kind of thing is, of course, completely ordinary and normal in our everyday lives, but one wonders - does something still slip past us unnoticed? Could "normal" everyday things like these be part of the reason behind our exhaustion and elevated stress levels?

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bnnmWYI0lM