Windsor
Veteran Expediter
Has anyone els in here ever turned their radio down when looking for an address so you could see better?
Question?
- Thread starter Windsor
- Start date
If you understood it, you wouldn’t think it’s funny
4 Replies
Wise Tina Fey once said, “I know for sure that you can tell how smart people are by what they laugh at.”
That was my reaction when I saw the above photograph being shared on Facebook. We get close to our destination, and we turn the radio down. How is that funny? The correlation between our attention and desire to multitask really isn’t a joke…, unless you just don’t understand it.
Interestingly enough, we all have limits on the amount of things that we can at one time. This uses our cognitive resources. Depending on what tasks we are trying to accomplish we can devote different amounts of our resources to these tasks. Psychologists have actually labeled the tasks that we engage in to be considered “low-load tasks” or “high-load tasks” (Goldstein, p 87). Our familiarity with the task, and the amount of ease that we are able to complete it with is what determines which category it falls into. A low-load task is something that we have done often and we find easy; a high-load task is something that we need to commit more attention to because it is a task that we find more difficult. We are able to do multiple tasks at once, as long as we don’t cross the threshold of cognitive resources that are available to us.
In chapter 4 of our text, we learn, “Divided attention is possible and can become automatic if tasks are easy or well-practiced. Divided attention becomes difficult and can require controlled processing when the task is made too hard (Goldstein, p93).”. Well, this explains why as we are cruising down the highway and only need to focus on the road and cars around us, the radio is not a distraction (driving in this scenario is a low-load task). Now, imagine we are arriving to our destination. Our attention now needs to go to reading street signs, watching for house numbers, making sure no one is trying to cross the street in front of us because we are driving slowly; all of these things make our task harder. Driving is no longer a “low-load task”. Goldstein goes on to explain that this scenario would cause us to “…devote all of your cognitive resources to driving (p 93)”. Since our cognitive resources are limited, we lower the radio and we have replenished more space into our bank of resources that are available to us.
In summary, as humans, we have only a certain amount of things that our brain is able to do at one time. With divided attention, we are able to do many easy and simple things (low-load tasks) or maybe just one more difficult thing (high-load task). Regardless, it is not just a coincidence that we lower the radio or eliminate other distractions as we approach our destination while we are driving. We lower the radio because it gives us the ability to apply more of our focus to arriving safely where we want to be.
Goldstein, E.B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Latham, A.C. (11 2006). Why do you Turn Down the Radio when You are Lost. Sharp Brains. Retrieved from http://sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/11/11/why-do-you-turn-down-the-radio-when-youre-lost/
Winfrey, O. (Interviewer) & Fey, T. (Interviewee). (2013). Oprah Talks to Tina Few [Interview Transcript]. Retrieved from Oprah.com
4 Replies
Wise Tina Fey once said, “I know for sure that you can tell how smart people are by what they laugh at.”
That was my reaction when I saw the above photograph being shared on Facebook. We get close to our destination, and we turn the radio down. How is that funny? The correlation between our attention and desire to multitask really isn’t a joke…, unless you just don’t understand it.
Interestingly enough, we all have limits on the amount of things that we can at one time. This uses our cognitive resources. Depending on what tasks we are trying to accomplish we can devote different amounts of our resources to these tasks. Psychologists have actually labeled the tasks that we engage in to be considered “low-load tasks” or “high-load tasks” (Goldstein, p 87). Our familiarity with the task, and the amount of ease that we are able to complete it with is what determines which category it falls into. A low-load task is something that we have done often and we find easy; a high-load task is something that we need to commit more attention to because it is a task that we find more difficult. We are able to do multiple tasks at once, as long as we don’t cross the threshold of cognitive resources that are available to us.
In chapter 4 of our text, we learn, “Divided attention is possible and can become automatic if tasks are easy or well-practiced. Divided attention becomes difficult and can require controlled processing when the task is made too hard (Goldstein, p93).”. Well, this explains why as we are cruising down the highway and only need to focus on the road and cars around us, the radio is not a distraction (driving in this scenario is a low-load task). Now, imagine we are arriving to our destination. Our attention now needs to go to reading street signs, watching for house numbers, making sure no one is trying to cross the street in front of us because we are driving slowly; all of these things make our task harder. Driving is no longer a “low-load task”. Goldstein goes on to explain that this scenario would cause us to “…devote all of your cognitive resources to driving (p 93)”. Since our cognitive resources are limited, we lower the radio and we have replenished more space into our bank of resources that are available to us.
In summary, as humans, we have only a certain amount of things that our brain is able to do at one time. With divided attention, we are able to do many easy and simple things (low-load tasks) or maybe just one more difficult thing (high-load task). Regardless, it is not just a coincidence that we lower the radio or eliminate other distractions as we approach our destination while we are driving. We lower the radio because it gives us the ability to apply more of our focus to arriving safely where we want to be.
Goldstein, E.B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Latham, A.C. (11 2006). Why do you Turn Down the Radio when You are Lost. Sharp Brains. Retrieved from http://sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/11/11/why-do-you-turn-down-the-radio-when-youre-lost/
Winfrey, O. (Interviewer) & Fey, T. (Interviewee). (2013). Oprah Talks to Tina Few [Interview Transcript]. Retrieved from Oprah.com
Windsor
Veteran Expediter
tknight
Veteran Expediter
Slo-Ride
Veteran Expediter
Thank you for sharing this, RoadTime. It is a nice summary. I have always thought that multitasking is overrated and is not a goal that is worth pursuing in and of itself. It is better to focus on getting your work done than it is to try to develop the non-existent "skill" of doing multiple things at once. Brainpower is a limited resource.
If there is more work to do than you are able to do in a given moment or week or year, you will get more done and, more done well, if you prioritize, plan and focus. These are all skills that can be developed. You will get less done, and less done well, if you try to multitask. So too in recreation. If you go to a concert and focus intently on the band and the performance, it will be more meaningful and more memorable. If you multi-task and focus on the band, the crowd, the people watching, the concessions and more, it becomes a crowd experience that is little different than most others you attend.
The quality difference and skill development can be instantly demonstrated behind the wheel. Try driving for five consecutive, uninterrupted minutes with full attention on your driving. When you signal a turn, think it through. When do you initiate the signal? How do you initiate it? What are your eyes, ears, nose and mind also doing at the time? When you look at "the big picture," what are you seeing exactly? When you read a road sign, read it aloud to keep focused on your driving task. Notice how your driving improves when you are fully self-aware, fully aware of your surroundings and fully intentional in your deeds.
As you practice these skills of self-awareness, awareness of your surroundings and intentional focus, the skills grow. Your brain gets better at these things, just as you get better at throwing a ball or playing a game if you practice it.
If you attempt to multi-task by driving, talking on the phone, monitoring the CB, taking photos of interesting sights, etc., refining your political opinions as you listen to talk shows, you will find yourself missing turns, photo opportunities and more; and you may find yourself in a wreck that could have been avoided had you not been multitasking.
Multitasking does exist. Our brains do it all the time, controlling our heartbeat while we plan a trip, for example. But the notion that you will be more productive or more effective by adding complex tasks to the menu and trying to do them all at once is without merit, I believe. If you wish to develop mental skills, choose skills that can actually be developed, not one that, by definition, introduces more complexity and conflict into your life.
As a job in which mental skills can be developed, expediting is glorious. You have the freedom of a self-employed worker. After you do a few loads and a bit of driving, the work becomes mostly low-level, as described above (though there is a difference between driving in Manhattan and Nevada). With the truck serving as your home, you don't have to get someplace else to be home or to have home resources at hand. The travel presents endless opportunities to avoid a physical and mental rut, and instead appreciate new sights, sounds, smells, events and opportunities.
Expediting presents a a truly unique opportunity to develop one's mental skills while also doing interesting work that pays the bills.
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Yesteryear
Expert Expediter
I always turn my radio off when getting close to a destination, city, of heavy traffic.
And just as you get to the dock and need to go check in, that's when you discover that you've found the one radio station in a thousand that plays the songs the way you like them!
Example: most oldies stations play the two minute version of the Doors' "Light My Fire". How often do you get to hear all seven glorious minutes of this song? For that matter, how many stations even play such old songs? If you tune in an oldies station nowadays, you're lucky to hear anything pre-disco
