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The people who are most likely to multitask harbor the illusion they are better than average at it, when in fact they are no better than average and often worse

The study ran 310 undergraduate psychology students through a battery of tests and questionnaires to measure actual multitasking ability, perceived multitasking ability, cell phone use while driving, use of a wide array of electronic media, and personality traits such as impulsivity and sensation-seeking.

people who score high on a test of actual multitasking ability tend not to multitask because they are better able to focus attention on the task at hand

70 percent of participants thought they were above average at multitasking, which is statistically impossible

The more people multitask by talking on cell phones while driving or by using multiple media at once, the more they lack the actual ability to multitask, and their perceived multitasking ability "was found to be significantly inflated

People with high levels of impulsivity and sensation-seeking reported more multitasking

there was an exception: People who talk on cell phones while driving tend not to be impulsive, indicating that cell phone use is a deliberate choice

research suggests that people who engage in multitasking often do so not because they have the ability, but "because they are less able to block out distractions and focus on a singular task

The study participants were 310 University of Utah psychology undergraduates – 176 female and 134 male with a median age of 21 – who volunteered for their department's subject pool in exchange for extra course credit.

To measure actual multitasking ability, participants performed a test named Operation Span, or OSPAN.

The test involves two tasks: memorization and math computation

Participants must remember two to seven letters, each separated by a math equation that they must identify as true or false

A simple example of a question: "is 2+4=6?, g, is 3-2=2?, a, is 4x3=12." Answer: true, g, false, a, true.

Participants also ranked their perceptions of their own multitasking ability by giving themselves a score ranging from zero to 100, with 50 percent meaning average.

Study subjects reported how often they used a cell phone while driving, and what percentage of the time they are on the phone while driving

also completed a survey of how often and for how many hours they use which media, including printed material, television and video, computer video, music, nonmusic audio, video games, phone, instant and text messaging, e-mail, the Web and other computer software such as word processing

researchers looked for significant correlations among results of the various tests and questionnaires

people who multitask the most tend to be impulsive, sensation-seeking, overconfident of their multitasking abilities, and they tend to be less capable of multitasking

25 percent of the people who performed best on the OSPAN test of multitasking ability "are the people who are least likely to multitask and are most likely to do one thing at a time

70 percent of participants said they were above-average at multitasking, and they were more likely to multitask

Media multitasking – except cell phone use while driving – correlated significantly with impulsivity, particularly the inability to concentrate and acting without thinking.

Multitasking, including cell phone use while driving, correlated significantly with sensation-seeking, indicating some people multitask because it is more stimulating, interesting and challenging, and less boring – even if it may hurt their overall performance

the effect seems to carry over to tasks in everyday life and is still there after six months

The study also shows how patterns of brain activity change as those cognitive skills improve

NeuroRacer is a three-dimensional video game in which players steer a car along a winding, hilly road with their left thumb, while keeping an eye out for signs that randomly pop up

If the sign is a particular shape and colour, players have to shoot it down using a finger on their right hand

draws on a mix of cognitive skills just as real life does — such as attention focusing, task switching and working memory

first recruited around 30 participants for each of six decades of life, from the 20s to the 70s

confirmed that multitasking skills as measured by the game deteriorated linearly with age

then recruited 46 participants aged 60–85

put them through a 4-week training period with a version of NeuroRacer that increased in difficulty as the player improved

After training, subjects had improved so much that they achieved higher scores than untrained 20-year-olds

the skill remained six months later without practice

scientists also conducted a battery of cognitive tests on the participants before and after training

Certain cognitive abilities that were not specifically targeted by the game improved and remained improved

working memory and sustained attention