{"id":6648,"date":"2014-10-28T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2014-10-28T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=6648"},"modified":"2014-10-24T09:58:17","modified_gmt":"2014-10-24T13:58:17","slug":"can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html","title":{"rendered":"Can You Multi-Task If You Are A Digital Native?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.freedigitalphotos.net\/images\/agree-terms.php?id=100181543\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-6672 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2014\/10\/ID-100181543-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"ID-100181543\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/><\/a>Lately, we&#8217;ve heard a lot about\u00a0people who think they can multitask but perform poorly. So parents all over America are turning off music and screens,\u00a0telling their teens to focus on the single task of studying. Good idea, right?<\/p>\n<p>Maybe not for all teens. Two high school\u00a0researchers put together an impressive study that challenged the idea that multitasking is always bad when trying to learn. In their study, the teens discovered that a <em>certain<\/em> group of teens can multitask and experience improved performance.\u00a0It was only 15% of the study participants (400 total participants) but for that group, listening to music, checking email and generally multitasking worked for them.<\/p>\n<p>Why? One thought is maybe the brains of digital natives (those who grew up on multitasking on media) have adapted to all the stimuli and can cope.\u00a0OR maybe there is a genetic component. No one is really sure but it is interesting that not all people who are heavy media multitaskers do poorly. Some of these &#8220;supertaskers&#8221; may just be able to handle all the distraction.<\/p>\n<p>Keep in mind that most people don&#8217;t do well on tasks when heavy media multitasking is involved. But maybe, just maybe, you have one of the few teens who can. Maybe the digital native brains are adapting. Since, this is only one study, more will need to be researched.<\/p>\n<p>In\u00a0the meantime, I&#8217;m telling my teens to put down the devices, study with no distraction like their old-school mom!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Source: Poster presentation at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference, 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lately, we&#8217;ve heard a lot about\u00a0people who think they can multitask but perform poorly. So parents all over America are turning off music and screens,\u00a0telling their teens to focus on the single task of studying. Good idea, right? Maybe not for all teens. Two high school\u00a0researchers put together an impressive study that challenged the idea&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[3066,2851,52,772,3067,3079,51,3080,3078],"class_list":["post-6648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-digital-natives","tag-multitasking","tag-parenting-2","tag-parenting-teens","tag-studying","tag-studying-and-media","tag-teens","tag-teens-and-homework","tag-teens-and-multitasking"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can You Multi-Task If You Are A Digital Native?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can You Multi-Task If You Are A Digital Native?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lately, we&#8217;ve heard a lot about\u00a0people who think they can multitask but perform poorly. So parents all over America are turning off music and screens,\u00a0telling their teens to focus on the single task of studying. Good idea, right? Maybe not for all teens. Two high school\u00a0researchers put together an impressive study that challenged the idea&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-28T10:00:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-10-24T13:58:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/10\/ID-100181543-300x199.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can You Multi-Task If You Are A Digital Native?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can You Multi-Task If You Are A Digital Native?","og_description":"Lately, we&#8217;ve heard a lot about\u00a0people who think they can multitask but perform poorly. So parents all over America are turning off music and screens,\u00a0telling their teens to focus on the single task of studying. Good idea, right? Maybe not for all teens. Two high school\u00a0researchers put together an impressive study that challenged the idea&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2014-10-28T10:00:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-10-24T13:58:17+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/10\/ID-100181543-300x199.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html","name":"Can You Multi-Task If You Are A Digital Native?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/10\/ID-100181543-300x199.jpg","datePublished":"2014-10-28T10:00:05+00:00","dateModified":"2014-10-24T13:58:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/10\/ID-100181543-300x199.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/10\/ID-100181543-300x199.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/10\/can-you-multi-task-if-you-are-a-digital-native.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Can You Multi-Task If You Are A Digital Native?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice &amp; Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6648"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6673,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6648\/revisions\/6673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}