Y11W10VC The multitasking story

You probably have a friend who claims to be excellent at multitasking. They can study while texting, listen to a lecture while checking their phone, hold three conversations at once. This week's article examines what the research actually shows about human multitasking — and why people who rate themselves as good at it are, on average, particularly worth paying attention to.

Core Vocabulary

intuition

/ɪnˈtuːɪʃən/|in·tu·i·tion

noun

Immediate understanding or knowing something without conscious reasoning; instinctive knowing.

Word Breakdown: From Latin "intuitio" (a looking at, contemplation), from "intueri" (to look at, contemplate). In- (in) + tueri (to look, protect).

Word family: intuition (n), intuitive (adj), intuitively (adv), intuited (v), counter-intuitive (adj)

Synonyms: instinct, gut feeling, hunch, immediate sense, inner knowledge

Collocations: intuition suggests, intuition says, gut intuition, initial intuition, intuition about

Example: Most people's intuition about multitasking is wrong; we feel we can handle multiple tasks simultaneously, but research shows we cannot.

illusory

/ɪˈluːzəri/ or /ɪˈluːʒəri/|il·lu·sor·y

adjective

Deceptively appearing real but actually false; based on false or misleading perception.

Word Breakdown: From Latin "illusorius" (deceptive), from "illudere" (to mock, trick). Il- (in, against) + ludere (to play, mock).

Word family: illusion (n), illusory (adj), illusions (n)

Synonyms: deceptive, false, misleading, unreal, apparent

Collocations: illusory sense, illusory control, illusory belief, illusory correlation, illusory truth

Example: The feeling of competence while multitasking is illusory; objective measures show performance suffers despite subjective feelings of control.

mediated

/ˈmidijeɪtɪd/|me·di·at·ed

adjective / verb (past)

Intervened or acted as a go-between; transmitted, conveyed, or brought about through something.

Word Breakdown: From Latin "mediatus" (brought together, mediated), from "mediare" (to be in the middle). Medi- (middle) + -ate (verb).

Word family: mediate (v), mediated (adj), mediation (n), mediator (n), mediating (v)

Synonyms: intervened, transmitted, conveyed, brought about, facilitated

Collocations: mediated by, mediated effect, mediated through, mediated relationship

Example: The cognitive cost of multitasking is mediated by the amount of attention required by each task.

cumulative

/ˈkjuːmjələtɪv/ or /ˈkjuːmjʊlətɪv/|cu·mu·la·tive

adjective

Increasing or increased in quantity, strength, or effect by successive additions; building up over time.

Word Breakdown: From Latin "cumulativus" (increased by heaping), from "cumulare" (to heap, pile up). Related to "cumulus" (heap).

Word family: cumulate (v), cumulative (adj), cumulatively (adv), accumulate (v), accumulation (n)

Synonyms: increasing, building, mounting, accumulating, progressive

Collocations: cumulative effect, cumulative impact, cumulative cost, cumulative stress, cumulative loss

Example: Multitasking creates a cumulative cognitive load; each additional task adds another processing burden.

substantial

/səbˈstænʃəl/|sub·stan·tial

adjective

Of considerable importance, size, or worth; large in amount or extent; real and significant.

Word Breakdown: From Latin "substantialis" (of substance, essential), from "substantia" (substance, material). Sub- (under) + stans (standing).

Word family: substance (n), substantial (adj), substantially (adv), substantive (adj), substantiate (v)

Synonyms: significant, considerable, large, important, major

Collocations: substantial evidence, substantial effect, substantial cost, substantial amount, substantial impact

Example: Research shows substantial performance deficits when people multitask, even for complex familiar tasks.

In the articleFor hard ones, it's substantial.

plausible

/ˈplɔːzəbəl/|plau·si·ble

adjective

Seemingly reasonable or probable; appearing worthy of belief despite possibly being false.

Word Breakdown: From Latin "plausibilis" (deserving applause, acceptable), from "plaudere" (to clap, applaud).

Word family: plausible (adj), plausibly (adv), plausibility (n), implausible (adj)

Synonyms: reasonable, probable, likely, believable, credible

Collocations: plausible explanation, plausible reason, plausible argument, plausible theory, plausible cause

Example: The explanation that we can multitask well seems plausible because we forget about the errors and focus on the times we succeeded.

exacerbate

/ɪɡˈzæsərbeɪt/ or /ɛɡˈzæsərbeɪt/|ex·ac·er·bate

verb

To make something worse, more severe, or more intense; to aggravate or intensify a problem.

Word Breakdown: From Latin "exacerbare" (to irritate, aggravate), from ex- (out, thoroughly) + acerbus (harsh, bitter).

Word family: exacerbate (v), exacerbated (adj), exacerbating (v), exacerbation (n)

Synonyms: worsen, aggravate, intensify, compound, inflame

Collocations: exacerbate problem, exacerbate situation, exacerbate condition, exacerbate stress, exacerbate conflict

Example: Time pressure exacerbates the negative effects of multitasking; rushed conditions reduce attention even further.

counterintuitive

/ˌkaʊntərɪnˈtuːɪtɪv/|coun·ter·in·tu·i·tive

adjective

Contrary to what intuition would suggest; opposite to what seems obvious or natural.

Word Breakdown: From counter- (against, opposite) + intuitive (based on intuition). Counter- means "in opposition to".

Word family: counter-intuitive (adj), counterintuitively (adv), intuitive (adj)

Synonyms: surprising, unexpected, contradictory, paradoxical, opposite to intuition

Collocations: counterintuitive finding, counterintuitive result, counterintuitive discovery, seems counterintuitive

Example: It's counterintuitive that multitasking makes us less productive, yet research consistently demonstrates this effect.

Technical Terms

attention residue

/əˈtɛnʃ(ə)n ˈrɛzɪdjuː/|at·ten·tion res·i·due

noun phrase

the lingering cognitive engagement with a prior task that impairs performance on the current one

Synonyms: cognitive spillover, mental carryover, task-switching interference

Collocations: attention residue lingers, leave attention residue, attention residue from prior tasks

Example: After replying to an urgent email mid-project, she found it difficult to return to deep work — the attention residue from the message was still occupying part of her mental bandwidth.

In the articleSwitching between tasks gives the brain a continuous sense of novelty, small dopaminergic hits every time attention lands somewhere new.

task-switching cost

/tɑːsk ˈswɪtʃɪŋ kɒst/|task-switch·ing cost

noun phrase

the performance decrement that occurs when switching between different tasks

Synonyms: switching penalty, cognitive switching cost, context-switching overhead

Collocations: incur a task-switching cost, task-switching cost research, reduce the task-switching cost

Example: Every time he moved between his essay and his inbox, he paid a task-switching cost — a brief but measurable drop in processing speed and accuracy as his brain reconfigured.

In the articleWorse at switching between tasks.

working memory

/ˈwɜːkɪŋ ˈmɛm(ə)ri/|work·ing mem·o·ry

noun phrase

the limited mental workspace where information is held and manipulated during thinking

Synonyms: active memory, cognitive workspace, short-term working buffer

Collocations: working memory capacity, load on working memory, working memory limitations

Example: Working memory can hold only a limited number of items at once — which is why complex verbal instructions are frequently forgotten before they can all be acted upon.

In the articleWorse at holding information in working memory.

cognitive load

/ˈkɒɡnɪtɪv ləʊd/|cog·ni·tive load

noun phrase

the total mental effort required by a task

Synonyms: mental load, processing demand, cognitive demand

Collocations: reduce cognitive load, cognitive load theory, high cognitive load

Example: A poorly designed form increases cognitive load by requiring users to remember too many steps — a burden that leaves less mental capacity for the actual decision being made.

In the articleHe expected to find that they had developed real cognitive advantages.

dual-task paradigm

/ˈdjuːəl tɑːsk ˈpærədaɪm/|du·al-task par·a·digm

noun phrase

A research method in which participants perform two tasks at the same time so researchers can measure the cost of divided attention.

Word Breakdown: dual (two) + task (activity) + paradigm (model or experimental framework)

Word family: dual (adj.), task (n.), paradigm (n.), paradigmatic (adj.)

Synonyms: two-task method, divided-attention test, simultaneous-task design

Collocations: use a dual-task paradigm, dual-task paradigm study, perform under a dual-task paradigm

Example: A dual-task paradigm might ask students to memorise words while responding to sounds, revealing how attention is split between tasks.

In the articleThe term names the research method behind the article's discussion of multitasking and the costs of divided attention.

Figurative Phrases

rewire the brain

change neural architecture

Etymology/Type: metaphor from electronics, not literal rewiring

Synonyms: restructure neural pathways, reshape cognitive architecture, change the brain's wiring

Example: Claims that technology is "rewiring the brain" demand careful scrutiny — the brain is indeed plastic, but not every change in habit constitutes lasting architectural change.

In the articleThe brain is not, in most cases, doing two cognitively demanding things at once.

split attention

divide focus

Etymology/Type: metaphor; attention isn't physically split

Synonyms: divided focus, fragmented concentration, multitasked attention

Example: Students studying with split attention — one eye on notes, one on a phone — consistently show lower retention than those working with undivided, single-task focus.

In the articleSwitching between tasks gives the brain a continuous sense of novelty, small dopaminergic hits every time attention lands somewhere new.

under the hood

in the underlying mechanism

Etymology/Type: idiom from car bonnets/hoods

Synonyms: beneath the surface, in the underlying mechanism, at the level of the system

Example: What looks like seamless multitasking is, under the hood, a rapid series of task switches — each one carrying a small but measurable cost in speed and accuracy.

feel productive

have the sense of achievement

Etymology/Type: feel' here signals subjective rather than objective

Synonyms: seem efficient, give the impression of output, experience a sense of productivity

Example: Responding to messages while drafting a report may feel productive but typically produces a lower-quality outcome on both tasks than focused, sequential work would have.

In the articleOver an hour, that's a meaningful proportion of your productive time evaporating into the overhead of the switches themselves.

paper over the fatigue

hide tiredness without resolving it

Etymology/Type: metaphor from covering with paper

Synonyms: mask the tiredness, conceal the cognitive cost, hide the exhaustion

Example: Caffeine can paper over the fatigue from insufficient sleep, creating a misleading impression of readiness that masks genuine impairment in executive function.

In the articleKey research referenced: Eyal Ophir, Clifford Nass and Anthony Wagner's 2009 PNAS paper on media multitasking; David Meyer and David Kieras's research on task-switching costs; subsequent replications and extensions including Uncapher and Wagner's 2018 meta-analytic review.

come back to

return to, of a task

Etymology/Type: figurative; 'come back' doesn't mean physical return

Confusing Words

illusory vs elusive

These paronyms look and sound similar but describe completely different conditions — one about what is not real, the other about what is hard to reach.

  • illusory — appearing to be real but actually not; based on or constituting an illusion. The sense of productivity from multitasking is illusory: it feels like efficient output but the evidence consistently suggests otherwise. Illusory things are false — they do not exist as they appear.
  • elusive — difficult to find, capture, or achieve; tending to escape effort or clear understanding. A concept that is elusive resists easy definition; a solution that is elusive remains out of reach despite effort. Elusive things may be entirely real — they are simply hard to get hold of.

If describing something that merely appears to be real but is not, use illusory. If describing something that is real but difficult to find, pin down, or achieve, use elusive.

cumulative vs aggregate

Both words describe the combination of multiple parts, but they emphasise different aspects of that combination.

  • cumulative — built up gradually over time, with each addition increasing a running total. The cumulative cost of task-switching is not felt in any single switch but accumulates across a day of repeated interruptions. Cumulative emphasises process and progression: the total grows incrementally.
  • aggregate — the total produced by combining separate things, viewed as a sum at a given point in time. An aggregate figure is a combined total; aggregate data brings together many individual measurements. The emphasis is on the sum itself, not on how it was assembled over time.

If emphasising the gradual accumulation of something over time, use cumulative. If referring to a total figure assembled from separate components, use aggregate.

exacerbate vs exaggerate

These words are commonly confused because of their similar sound, but they describe entirely different things — one makes a situation genuinely worse, the other makes a description larger than the reality.

  • exacerbate — to make a problem, condition, or situation worse; to increase its severity. Multitasking exacerbates attention fatigue: it takes an existing difficulty and intensifies it. The word is always about making something genuinely and actually worse, not merely representing it as worse.
  • exaggerate — to represent something as larger, worse, or more significant than it actually is; to overstate. A researcher who exaggerates findings is misrepresenting them — claiming more than the evidence supports. Unlike exacerbate, exaggeration is about the description or claim, not the underlying reality.

If describing an action that genuinely increases the severity of a problem or situation, use exacerbate. If describing an overstatement that represents something as worse than it actually is, use exaggerate.