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Multitasking doesn’t work for most people. One <anchor>study</anchor> found that only 2.5% of people are “supertaskers,” or people who can multitask effectively. A study of college students found that students who multitask while doing homework spent more time studying. Additionally, the data revealed that students who multitask in class regularly held lower GPAs than those who didn’t. And if you still aren’t convinced that multitasking is counterproductive to making the most of your time, psychology research indicates that shifting between tasks can cost as much as 40% of someone’s productive time.
Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability | Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
# Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability

- Brief Reports

- Published: August 2010

- Volume 17, pages 479–485, (2010)

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Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability

## Abstract

Theory suggests that driving should be impaired for any motorist who is concurrently talking on a cell phone. But is everybody impaired by this dual-task combination? We tested 200 participants in a high-fidelity driving simulator in both single- and dual-task conditions. The dual task involved driving while performing a demanding auditory version of the operation span (OSPAN) task. Whereas the vast majority of participants showed significant performance decrements in dual-task conditions (compared with single-task conditions for either driving or OSPAN tasks), 2.5% of the sample showed absolutely no performance decrements with respect to performing single and dual tasks. In single-task conditions, these “supertaskers” scored in the top quartile on all dependent measures associated with driving and OSPAN tasks, and Monte Carlo simulations indicated that the frequency of supertaskers was significantly greater than chance. These individual differences help to sharpen our theoretical understanding of attention and cognitive control in naturalistic settings.

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## Author information

### Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Psychology, University of Utah, 380 S. 1530 E. RM 502, 84112, Salt Lake City, UT

Jason M. Watson & David L. Strayer

Authors

1. Jason M. Watson

2. David L. Strayer

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## Additional information

Support for this study was provided through an internal grant from the University of Utah.

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### Cite this article

Watson, J.M., Strayer, D.L. Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 17, 479–485 (2010). https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.17.4.479

- Received: 30 October 2009

- Accepted: 25 February 2010

- Issue Date: August 2010

- DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.17.4.479

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