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Andy’s Quick Hits (111): Women are Equally as Bad as Men at Multitasking
What! I thought women were better than men at multitasking (amongst other things)?
So the myth goes!
So it’s a myth?
Absolutely. We have known for many years that the brain is just not cut out to perform two cognitive task simultaneously. But there have been some differences noted between men and women — but the literature is contradictory.
And now it has been debunked?
Yes, well in one structured study at least. Patricia Hirsch and colleagues of Aachen University in Germany conducted a structured study with 48 men and 48 women. They put them though a series of tasks and tests of sequential and concurrent multitasking and found no significant differences.
So how well can we multitask?
As I said above the results and the literature is clear on that. Human beings are bad at multitasking and this is supported in the extensive literature. It slows us down, mistakes increase, and memory decreases, amongst other effects. Basically bad stuff and something businesses should avoid.
What if a women tells me snottily that she is a woman and so can multitask?
Show her this chart!
