Media multitasking is really multidistracting  May 3, 2011
(credit: stock image)  Multitaskers who think they can
successfully divide their attention between the program on their
television set and the information on their computer screen have
proven to be driven to distraction by the two devices, according
to a new study of media multitasking by Boston College
researchers.  Placed in a room containing a television and a
computer and given a half hour to use either device, subjects in
the study on average switched their eyes back and forth between
TV and computer a 120 times in 27.5 minutes, nearly once every
14 seconds.   The researchers said that the subjects were not
even aware of their own actions. On average, participants in the
study thought they might have looked back and forth between the
two devices about 15 times per half hour. In reality, they were
looking almost 10 times as often. Even if quick “glances” (less
than 1.5 seconds) were removed from the equation, the subjects
were still switching ove