EAGER: An Empirical Exploration of Contemplative Multitasking

尽管个人电脑、互联网、手机和其他信息服务和技术无疑是交流和获取信息的强大资源，但人们越来越担心，这些工具的广泛使用可能会对个人、群体甚至整个社会产生负面影响。媒体上充斥着关于信息过载、多任务处理、注意力分散和生活节奏加快的文章。越来越多的科学文献与这些问题有关，特别是证明了多任务处理会降低人类的表现。新技术有时被认为是缓解这一问题的一种方式。这项研究探索了一种不同但互补的方法：通过冥想训练用户使用现有的信息技术更有效、更少压力地工作。PI将为人们提供冥想培训，然后测试他们执行一系列有时间限制的信息密集型任务的能力。虽然之前对冥想效果的研究已经提供了实验证据，表明这种训练有助于人们保持注意力，减少分心造成的干扰，但还没有人试图证明这种效果具体与信息技术的使用有关。PI在这项研究中的目标就是做到这一点。旧金山和西雅图的人力资源人员将被招募参加为期八周的冥想或放松培训。参与者将在培训前后接受多任务处理能力的测试(包括在类似办公室的环境中使用电子邮件、即时消息、电话和面对面交谈)，并将从四个方面评估他们的表现：准确性；完成任务的时间；满意度和幸福感；以及对任务的记忆力。因此，项目成果将对越来越多的科学文献做出贡献，这些文献表明同时处理多项任务会降低人类的表现，也会对基本上独立的文献做出贡献，这些文献证明冥想训练可以帮助人们保持注意力，减少分心造成的干扰，并将成为两者之间的桥梁。更广泛的影响：越来越多的证据表明，猖獗的多任务和加速的工作模式可能会导致健康问题和效率降低。如果能够证明冥想训练可以减少一些负面影响，那么为学生和成年员工创造改善训练的大门将是敞开的。

While personal computers, the Internet, cell phones and other information services and technologies are unquestionably powerful resources for communication and for information access, there is growing concern that the widespread use of these tools may be negatively affecting individuals, groups, and even society as a whole. The press is filled with articles on information overload, multitasking, fragmented attention, and the accelerating pace of life. And there is a growing body of scientific literature that bears on these issues, demonstrating in particular that multitasking degrades human performance. New technologies are sometimes suggested as a way to alleviate the problem. This study explores a different but complementary approach: training users through meditation to work more effectively and less stressfully with existing information technologies. The PI will offer people training in meditation and then test their ability to perform a set of time-limited information-intensive tasks. While prior studies of the efficacy of meditation have provided experimental evidence that such training helps people maintain focus and reduce interference resulting from distraction, no one has yet attempted to demonstrate such effects specifically in relation to the use of information technology. The PI's goal in this study is to do just this. Human resources personnel in San Francisco and Seattle will be recruited to attend eight weeks of training in either meditation or relaxation. Participants will be given a test of their multitasking abilities (involving the use of e-mail, instant messaging, phones, and face-to-face conversation in an office-like setting) both before and after the training, and their performance will be evaluated along four dimensions: accuracy; time to completion; satisfaction and well-being; and memory for the task. Project outcomes will thus make a contribution both to the growing body of scientific literature demonstrating that multitasking degrades human performance, as well as to the largely separate literature demonstrating that meditation training can help people maintain focus and reduce interference resulting from distraction, and will serve as a bridge between them.Broader Impacts: There is growing evidence that rampant multitasking and accelerated modes of working can result in health problems and diminished effectiveness. If it can be demonstrated that meditation training diminishes some of these negative effects, then the door will be open to creating ameliorative training for both students and adult workers.