Re: [Phys-L] multitasking

["John Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

But studies show that talking to a live person in the car is not as unsafe
as talking to a person on the phone.  One difference that was cited is that
the live person tends to stop talking when there are cues that they are in a
dangerous situation, but the person on the phone has no such cues.  It is
not just the cognitive content, but rather the entire situation.

The example cited of the pencil dropping is not looking at the dangers of
multitasking, but rather at the ability of the individual to prioritize what
they should do.  And just because planes have had the ability to send or
receive text messages does not mean that it is a safe procedure.  This is
the typical argument that we have always done it that way, so it is a good
way to do it.

There is now evidence that students who routinely sneak things like
messaging in class do not do as well.  As I recall it was not clear what was
cause or effect.

But still this doesn't answer the question as to whether there have been
studies showing what good practice should be.  Industry, government, and
education have generally run by the seat of the pants even when there is
good research evidence for good practice.  The Japanese took our industrial
studies and used them to beat us at auto manufacturing.  Meanwhile the auto
industry ignored the studies and closed plants that used the studies.

The studies show that cell phone use increases accident rates significantly,
and that texting is even much worse.  So it is reasonable to ban them while
actively driving.  Just banning texting is the most benefit.  There are
certainly other things that can be distractions, and people do them despite
the known risks.  There was a news show where they explored this, and one
woman called in and said she changed her pantyhose while commuting.  A
driving instructor told us she noticed a man eating cereal holding the bowl
in one hand and using a spoon with the other.  I am happy that the idiots
who do things like this are not flying planes, or are they?

The evidence against frequent multi-tasking is that the brain changes how it
operates and the ability to concentrate goes down.  In other words less
efficient multi-tasking becomes the norm.  But there are some jobs where
multi-tasking is a benefit and the ability to concentrate is not very
important.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX

 
> That's the relevant difference.  Please don't tell me you think it's 
> OK for pilots to talk on the radio mainly because the cognitive effort
> is so much lower (allegedly, compared to phoning while driving).
>
> The idea that the cognitive content of the conversation is 
> the dominant
> risk factor is a non-starter for another reason also, as 
> should be obvious 
> from the fact that even in jurisdictions that forbid talking 
> on the phone 
> while driving, they allow talking to a passenger in the car ... which
> involves the same cognitive content.