Media multitasking performance: Role of message relevance and formatting cues in online environments

In this study, strategies involving use of message relevance and formatting cues were tested with the objective of enhancing media multitasking performance. Three memory measures, free recall, aided/cued recall, and recognition were used as dependent variables for the study.     

“TV no longer commands our full attention”: Effects of second-screen viewing and task relevance on cognitive load and learning from news

Second-screen viewing—the use of smartphones, tablets, and laptops while watching television—has increased dramatically in the last few years. Using multiple resource theory and threaded cognition theory, this study investigated the effects of second-screen viewing on cognitive load, factual recall and comprehension of news. Second, we examined the effects of relevant (i.e., looking up information related to the news story) and irrelevant (i.e., looking up information unrelated to the story) second-screen viewing on learning from news. Results from an experiment (N = 85) showed that second-screen viewing led to lower factual recall and comprehension of news content than single-screen viewing. These effects were mediated by cognitive load: second-screen viewing led to a higher cognitive load than single-screen viewing, with higher cognitive load, in turn, leading towards lower factual recall and comprehension of news content. Contrary to our expectations, we found no statistically significant differences between effects of relevant and irrelevant second-screen viewing.     

Mindful multitasking: The relationship between mindful flexibility and media multitasking

With the insatiable demand for and corresponding burgeoning of electronic devices enabling individuals to accomplish many things simultaneously, effective multitasking may be a necessity in today’s world. The present study was concerned with the improvement of media multitasking by increasing mindful flexibility through a state mindfulness induction (Langer, 1989). Seventy-five participants were randomized into one of three state mindfulness induction groups (High Mindful, Low Mindful, No Treatment). Multitasking performance was assessed via a dual-task paradigm that involved composing an essay on a computer and solving anagrams sent via a browser-based chat program. Results revealed that higher trait mindfulness was related to greater tolerance of ambiguity, a greater tendency to adopt a Heuristic than Algorithmic thinking style, greater complexity in thinking style, greater positive affect, and less negative affect. Although the state mindfulness inductions did not differentially affect multitasking performance across the three groups, trait mindfulness predicted the performance of individuals in the No Treatment group. Overall, the study suggested that younger individuals and individuals who have a dispositional tendency to remain implicitly or explicitly aware of multiple perspectives of a situation are better at media multitasking.     

Media multitasking predicts video-recorded lecture learning performance through mind wandering tendencies

Media multitasking behaviors are on the rise globally. This phenomenon extends to academic settings, and has implications for education that is predicated on computer-assisted technology, which may be a source of distractibility for, especially, heavy media multitaskers. We hypothesized that habitual media multitasking correlates negatively with video-recorded lecture learning performance, with mind wandering mediating this association. Eighty-one participants from the National University of Singapore first completed a media multitasking survey (Loh & Kanai, 2014; Ophir et al., 2009). They then studied Coursera video-recorded lectures, during which their mind wandering tendencies were assessed using direct probes. Finally, participants attempted a test relating to what they have studied. Four regression models were built to analyse the data, and revealed evidence that supported the present hypothesis, even after we controlled for phenomenological variables relating to learning (i.e., anxiety, mental fatigue, and prior subject knowledge). Implications and future directions are discussed.     

Media multitasking and the effectiveness of combining online and radio advertising

Research on the effectiveness of cross-media campaigns has shown that combining online advertising with advertising in offline media can result in more positive consumer responses than using only one medium. However, when using computers, people increasingly engage in more than one media activity at a time (i.e. media multitasking), which might influence how consumers respond to advertisements they encounter in these media. Therefore, this paper investigates advertising effects during media multitasking. More specifically, the paper gives insight into the effectiveness of simultaneous exposure to online and radio advertising, because simultaneously surfing the internet and listening to the radio is a common media multitasking combination. Results of an experimental study with 111 participants showed that combining online and radio advertising resulted in more positive affective and behavioral responses than using only one medium. However, media multitasking seemed to have a negative influence on the recall and recognition of auditory information as combining media did not result in superior cognitive responses compared to using online ads alone.     

Media multitasking and psychological wellbeing in Chinese adolescents: Time management as a moderator

The present study examined the relationships among media multitasking, time management, and psychological wellbeing in Chinese adolescents. A total of 320 adolescents aged 11 to 18 years old were recruited and asked to complete the Media Use Questionnaire, Chinese Adolescent Mental Health Inventory, and Adolescent Time Management Disposition scale. A structural equation model was used to assess possible relationships among media multitasking, time management, and psychological wellbeing. The results showed that the media multitasking index of the sample was 2.5, indicating that adolescents also had access to other 2.5 media tasks when performing the primary media task. Media multitasking was significantly negatively correlated with psychological wellbeing. Time management disposition was negatively correlated with Media multitasking and positively correlated with psychological wellbeing. Our findings indicate that time management disposition can moderate the relationship between Media multitasking and psychological wellbeing. The theoretical and practical implications of adolescent media use are discussed.     

Media multitasking during political news consumption: A relationship with factual and subjective political knowledge

Growth of digital, social, and mobile media has enabled engagement with multiple media activities during news consumption in a more efficient and synchronous fashion than before. This study investigates whether media multitasking activities while consuming political news affects individuals' levels of subjective and factual political knowledge. Results from a Web survey of online panel members show that on the whole, pairwise and bundled forms of media multitasking are negatively related to factual political knowledge. Also, those who engage in media multitasking are more likely to report that they are politically knowledgeable but they do not know about politics as much as they think they do. Implications are discussed for media multitasking and an informed citizenry.     

Integrating internet tools into traditional CS distance education: students' attitudes

This paper describes a study conducted on the attitudes of students towards the integration of the Web as a channel of communication and a study tool in traditional distance teaching of Computer Science (CS) at the Open University of Israel (OUI). We examined the incorporation of web communication into the traditional model with three different groups of undergraduate students—one of 700 students in our introductory course, another of 150 students in our advanced “Computer Networks” course, and the third including the remaining 3000 students in the CS department. Questionnaires were answered by a representative sample. The findings show that when the use of the Web is voluntary, students do not take full advantage of it, even those who are advanced in their studies and have rich experience in using computers and the Internet. The results, however, do show that the use of the Web increases as students advance in their studies, although even in this case the Web is not used as much as it could be, either as a communication channel or as a study tool. Our findings support the following assumptions: The Web cannot substitute entirely for face-to-face learning, but it can serve as a reasonable alternative when the latter is unavailable. Using the Web to its full pedagogical potential requires a high level of self-study ability; the more distance-based the learning is, the more the Web is used and accepted by the students, and the more it serves them as a communication channel and as a study tool.     

If I choose when to switch: Heavy multitaskers remember online content better than light multitaskers when they have the freedom to multitask

The present study explored the effects of switching between reading an online article and checking Facebook on recognition memory, moderated by polychronicity, or preference for multitasking. The results of the study indicated that participants recognized online information less efficiently when they were required to check Facebook (forced multitasking) and when they could choose to check Facebook if and when they wanted (voluntary multitasking) compared with the control, non-multitasking, condition. I.e., the opportunity to multitask interfered with the efficiency of online information processing as much as actual multitasking. Polychronicity was a significant moderator of the multitasking effects. Low polychronics were negatively affected by multitasking to a greater extent than high polychronics. Their article recognition levels were lower than those of high polychronics. Two recognition measures derived from the signal detection theory: recognition sensitivity and criterion bias, were used. The study indicated that forced and voluntary multitasking affected high and low polychronics differently. Low polychronics showed greater cognitive effort than high polychronics when they engaged in voluntary media multitasking, while the amount of cognitive resources allocated to processing increased in high polychronics in the non-multitasking (control) condition. When high polychronics did not have control over switching to Facebook (forced multitasking), their recognition of the online article content decreased. Theoretical, methodological, and managerial implications of the study are discussed.     

Using mobile communication technology in high school education: Motivation,pressure, and learning performance

Motivation and pressure are considered two factors impacting vocational senior high school student learning. New communication technology, especially mobile communication technology, is supposed to be effective in encouraging interaction between the student and the instructor and improving learning efficiency. Social presence and information richness theory was applied to analyze the media and their impacts on the instruction process firstly. Then the author observed firstly the impact of using individual communication technologies – namely Short Message Service (SMS), email, and online forum – on student learning motivation, pressure, and performance, based on a comparative investigation of 176 students. Then the impacts of using combination of mobile and Internet communication technology – SMS + email, SMS + online forum – were examined with another experiment of 45 students. The result showed that instant messaging helps bonding the two roles – student and instructor – in the instruction process effectively. When combined with Internet communication media, it can significantly increase student extrinsic motivation without causing higher pressure. Additionally, communication media demanding public expression rather than private dialogue should be adopted with careful consideration, since they may raise student pressure.     

Understanding online knowledge sharing: An interpersonal relationship perspective

The unique features and capabilities of online learning are built on the ability to connect to a wider range of learning resources and peer learners that benefit individual learners, such as through discussion forums, collaborative learning, and community building. The success of online learning thus depends on the participation, engagement, and social interaction of peer learners, which leads to knowledge sharing. Thus, without frequent and persistent interaction, it is doubtful whether knowledge sharing can take place in online learning. This study argues that theories about the development and maintenance of social relationships provide a theoretical foundation for understanding the motivation to engage in online knowledge sharing behavior. An Online Knowledge Sharing Model (OKSM) is proposed and empirically tested among undergraduate students using an online learning environment. The model introduces two new constructs – Perceived Online Attachment Motivation (POAM) and Perceived Online Relationship Commitment (PORC), which together explained 71 percent of the variance observed in self-reported online knowledge sharing behavior. The findings provide some explanations for the motivation to share knowledge, and have several implications for the design of the features and capabilities of online learning environments.     

Behavioral performance and visual attention in communication multitasking: A comparison between instant messaging and online voice chat

Participants carried out a visual pattern-matching task on a computer while communicating with a confederate either via instant messaging (IM) or online voice chat. Communicating with a confederate led to a 50% drop in visual pattern-matching performance in the IM condition and a 30% drop in the voice condition. Visual fixations on pattern-matching were fewer and shorter during the communication task and a greater loss of fixations was found in the IM condition than the voice condition. The results, examined within a threaded cognition framework, suggest that distributing the work between the audio and visual channels reduces performance degradation. Implications for media literacy and distracted-driving are discussed.     

Relationship between the level of intimacy and lurking in online social network services

The rapid growth of online social network services (SNSs) leads to new research questions. Unlike in other online communities, people in SNSs expect to gratify social-emotional needs rather than informational needs, and they are connected in a person-to-person manner which is more direct and interpersonal. The author argued that the factors influencing members’ public posting in SNSs differ from those in traditional online communities. Interpersonal intimacy was postulated to influence lurking behaviors in SNSs. To investigate the relationship between intimacy level and posting frequency in SNSs, an online survey was conducted in Wallop, a SNS provided by Microsoft. Responses (102) were collected, in which the first 40 posters and the first 40 lurkers were selected for statistical analysis. The result shows significant differences exist in both verbal and affective intimacy level between lurkers and posters. The level of verbal intimacy and the level of affective intimacy are positively correlated with posting frequency. The result of discriminant analysis shows that verbal intimacy and affective intimacy are useful for discriminating posting/lurking groups of users. In addition, significant gender differences in perceived intimacy and posting behaviors were found. The result implies that people lurk in SNSs because they believe that their social-emotional needs may not be satisfied even if they post.     

Differences between ‘talking about' and ‘admitting' sensitive behaviour in anonymous and non-anonymous web-based interviews

This paper examines the differences between two factors of the tendency to give socially desirable answers in regard to sensitive questions. In contrast to the usual question of how socially desirable a certain behaviour is perceived by the interviewee, a study performed at the University of Bremen divided this question into ‘talking about' and ‘admitting' a certain behaviour, where ‘talking about' meant to mention a certain behaviour in public while ‘admitting' implied that one has already done it oneself. Additionally, the study compared two different computer mediated interview modes: a web-based questionnaire (ONLINE) and an innovative method called internet assisted personal interview (IAPI), which used a desktop video conference system to facilitate communication between the interviewer and the interviewee. This was done in order to compare the tendency to give socially desirable answers in an anonymous (ONLINE) and non-anonymous (IAPI) interview setting. Results show that there are significant differences between most of the ‘talking about' and ‘admitting' items. Nevertheless, the expected differences between the interview modes were not observed.     

Investigating cooperation and collaboration in near synchronous computer mediated conferences

The development and use of computer mediated communications as a tool for teaching and learning has grown considerably in recent years. It has been developed to extend the conventional face-to-face tutorial environment and for distance-learning purposes, actively engaging students in productive learning situations. Here we document the findings of an analysis of near synchronous conferencing where postgraduate distance learners worked in small groups to produce a report that examined media coverage of controversial science. The results suggest that students actively engaged in both cooperative and collaborative learning in preparing and producing these reports, and that tutor interventions were an important factor in influencing peer interaction. Furthermore, we have found evidence of cooperation between learners who passively participate in vicarious learning. We consider the implications of these findings with respect to current definitions of cooperation and collaboration.