Jenna Takushi

Skyler Farr

The Effects of Pressure and

Handedness on Multitasking

Research Question

How does pressure effect a person’s ability to

multitask efficiently?

H0: Participants who receive pressure before taking

the test will perform as equally as the control group

not being pressured.

H1: Participants who receive pressure before taking

the test will perform better than the control group.

H2: Participants who receive pressure before the

the test will perform worse than the control group.

Research Question

How does a person’s handedness disposition

effect their ability to multitask efficiently?

H0: Left Handers, Right Handers, and Ambidextrous

participants will have equal multitasking scores.

H1: Ambidextrous participants will have higher

scores than Left and Right handed participants.

H2: Right handed participants will have lower

scores than left handers and ambidextrous

participants.

Previous Research

(Semenza, Delazer et al.)Processing Math is

facilitated in the left hemisphere of the brain

which is where language is processed. This was

supported by examining patients with right

hemisphere aphasia and their mathematical

abilities compared to patients with left

hemisphere lesions.

(Benton, Hannay, and Varney)Visual perception

of line direction is located in the right hemisphere.

This was found in examining patients with

unilateral brain disease.

Previous Research

(Knecht, Dräger, et al.) Likelihood of right-

hemisphere language dominance (%)=15%-

handedness (%)/10.

Left Handed (entirely)= -100

Right Handed (entirely)= 100

Ambidextrous (entirely)= 0

Left Handed People are 75% likely to have right-

hemisphere language dominance

Right Handed People are 95% likely to have left-

hemisphere language dominance

Ambidextrous People are 85% likely to have left-

hemisphere language dominance

Previous Research

(Ferrari) Chronic procrastinators regulate

ineffectively their performance speed and

accuracy when working under pressure that can

be defined as high cognitive load, objective self-

awareness, and imposed time limitations.

(Poposki, Oswald, and Chen) Neuroticism, a non-

cognitive factor, and multitasking performance

have a negative correlation.

Subjects

Sample Size: n=36

Gender: 18 Males and 18 Females

Age: 18-32, average age: 23.17

Pressure Group: 8 Males, 12 Females; Average

Age: 23.20

Control Group: 10 Males, 6 Females; Average

Age: 23.13

Methods

The control group was given directions on how the

game is supposed to be played and how to submit

their results and survey.

The pressure group received the same directions,

however they were informed with this caption before

the link to the game: “Most people, so far have

received an average score of 2000. Good luck!”

Surveys were taken soon after to obtain:

Demographic information (age and gender, etc.)

Handedness (left, right, ambidextrous)

Practice trials

Methods

The actual scores were taken from participants’

screen captures.

Screen captures of results were observed and the

number of how many programs and windows

opened were analyzed.

Game Configuration

KaRmA. Multi Tasking Test JTP (KaRmA)

[Software]. Available from

http://karma.celardore.net/multi/

Example of Scores

Survey

Writing hand(s)

Brushing teeth hand(s)

Number of tasks participant can do with both

hands equally

Hand dominance

Results

The pressure condition participants had an

average total score 643.25.

The control condition participants had an average

total score 500.31.

A non-repeated measures analysis of variance F-

test was conducted to determine mean

differences in total score.

Overall the pressure group performed significantly

better than the control group, F (1,31)= 6.45, p <

.05 r2 = .473. Power=.689

The null hypothesis and H2 were rejected. H1 was

retained.

Results The Left Handed participants had an average total

score of 745.

The Right Handed participants had an average total

score of 511.72.

The Ambidextrous participants had an average total

score of 1250.

A non-repeated measures analysis of variance F-test

was conducted to determine mean differences in total

score.

Overall the ambidextrous participants performed

better than the non-ambidextrous participants, F

(2,31)= 13.73, p < .001*** r2 = .473. Power=.996

The null hypothesis was rejected. H2 was rejected.

H1 was retained.

Results

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Control Pressure

Average Total Score

Average Total Multitask Score as a Function of Pressure

Pressure Groups

Results

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Left Right Ambidextrous

Total Score

Handedness

Multitask Total Score as a Function of Handedness and Pressure

Pressure

Control

Pressure

Groups

Results

Results

Discussion: Interpretation of Results Results found indicate that pressure forces individuals

to perform better when multitasking. Mainly in right handers, no effect on others.

Ambidextrous people multitask better than right handers, possibly left handers.

Media multitaskers do not do better or worse than non-media multitaskers.

“Practice doesn’t always make perfect”.

Correlation of games practiced and total score

Discussion: Limitations

The limitations we found within our study:

Small sample size (left handers and ambidextrous)

Insufficient reading of the instructions given

Distractions

In person/Online

Inconsistent number of games played

Discussion: Practical Implications

Ambidexterity would be a more sought out ability

among certain professions that have high

demand for multitasking.

Knowledge that multitasking performance

improves under pressure can be applied to many

fields, such as the military and any other

profession that might require multitasking.

Multitasking does not seem to improve much with

practice, but it does seem to improve while

developing co-dominant handedness.

Ambidexterity training could be done to improve

multitasking.

Discussion: Future Directions Run a study that scans the brain in order to verify that

each task in the multitask game pertains to the

hemisphere they are thought to belong to.

Develop and use a similar test that is more

reliable/proportional in scoring its different

dimensions.

Measure the effect of a different pressure or perhaps

a non-cognitive factor that can possibly effect

multitasking performance.

More research should be done on determining what

each hemisphere dominantly specializes in.

Subsequent multitask and handedness experiments

could be based off these specializations.

References BENTON, A., HANNAY, H. J., VARNEY, N. R. (1975). Visual perception of line

direction in patients with unilateral brain disease. American Academy of Neurology, 25(10), 907. doi: 10.1212/WNL.25.10.907

Ferrari, J. R. (2001). Procrastination as self-regulation failure of performance: effects of cognitive load, self-awareness, and time limits on ‘working best under pressure.’ European Journal of Personality, 15, 391-406.

KaRmA. Multi Tasking Test JTP (KaRmA) [Software]. Available from http://karma.celardore.net/multi/

Knecht, S., Dräger, B., Deppe, M., Bobe, L., Lohmann, H., Flöel, A., Ringelstein, E.-B., Henningsen , H., (2000). Handedness and hemispheric language dominance in healthy humans. Brain, 123(12), 2512-2518. doi: 10.1093/brain/123.12.2512

Poposki, E. M., Oswald, F. L., Chen, H. T. (2009). Neuroticism Negatively Affects Multitasking Performance through State Anxiety. NAVY PERSONNEL RESEARCH STUDIES AND TECHNOLOGY, 29. http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA494159

Semenza C., Delazer M., Bertella L., Grana A., Mori I., Conti F. M., Pignatti R., Bartha L., Domahs F., Benke T., Mauro A. (2006). Is math lateralised on the same side as language? Right hemisphere aphasia and mathematical abilities. Neuroscience letters, 406(3), 285-288. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2006.07.063