Here is a proposed experiment to study multitasking in humans:
Purpose: To understand how multitasking affects human performance and cognitive load.
Hypothesis: Performing multiple tasks simultaneously will decrease performance on individual tasks and increase cognitive load compared to focusing on tasks sequentially.
Method:
- Recruit 20 participants between ages 18-30
- Have them complete 2-3 simple tasks individually as fast as possible (e.g. math problems, word search) to establish baseline performance and cognitive load
- Then have them complete the same tasks simultaneously while also having a conversation to introduce multitasking
- Measure time to complete each task and subjective cognitive load using a survey after each condition
Tasks: