Myth 3 - Who is a better multitasker? Men or Women?
education exchange
In 2025, 3 papers published research from over 4,500 teachers across 12 counties on the most commonly held myths in education. In this series of blogs, we will be looking at the 10 most common myths, how they came about, and the realities surrounding them.
Can you spot a myth? Try this fun quiz based on some of the questions teachers were asked in the research studies
Spot the myth - Try here
Myth 3 - Who is a better multitasker? Men or Women?
It is absolutely true that men can’t multitask - but neither can women. In fact our human brain is completely incapable of doing more than one attention-demanding task at the same time. If you think you can multitask then you are actually setting yourself up to be working suboptimally. You could actually be even more efficient and effective if you stopped trying to multitask and focused on one task at a time!
The Reality
We can only do one attention-demanding task at a time. What people call multitasking is usually rapid task switching, plus occasional pairing of a controlled task with an automatic one. For example, if you are stirring a cake batter and chatting to your Dad on the phone, you automate the stirring while you focus on the conversation. The stirring of the batter is no longer attention-demanding.
The negative impact of trying to multitask will show up in at least one of these three areas:
- Bottleneck delays - Humans are physically unable to process two "decisions" at the exact same millisecond. So one will be prioritised and the other response delayed. (Pashler, 1998. The Psychology of Attention)
- Task switching costs - What people commonly assume to be multitasking is actually the brain having to switch between tasks. The cost is the "mental reboot" time required when you move your attention from one set of rules to another. Task switching causes slower responses and increases errors (Rubinstein et al, 2001. Psychological Science)
- Measurable real-world impairments - Have you ever seen a car drifting out of its lane, only to then find out that the driver is on their phone? This is an example of someone trying to ‘multitask’ and ending up with a real-world impairment. (Strayer & Johnston, 2001)
Classroom Impact
I have yet to meet a pupil who doesn’t claim that they can multitask. They will insist on finishing a task when we are giving some instructions, some may even think it is ok to ask their friend about a question they have just completed. Yet, while doing so they miss some important explanation or instruction. This means it is especially important for us teachers to ensure we direct 100% of pupil attention on what they need to focus on. This includes us removing potential distractions - and that can include us! For example, if we start talking when pupils are meant to be writing down notes, they won’t be able to attend to both at the same time. Or, perhaps we are guilty of creating over-busy lessons where they can’t focus on the key learning at hand. If a pupil does claim they can multi-task, please do correct them.
Sources
- Fernández-Miras, J.G., Aguilar-Parra, J.M., Trigueros, R. and López-Liria, R. (2023) 'Beyond neuromyths: Examining in-service teachers’ misconceptions about teaching and learning', Frontiers in Psychology, 14, p. 1144002. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1144002.
- Adiguzel, O.C., Potvin, P., Sarrasin, J.B., Vanhoolandt, C., Corfdir, A., Japashov, N., Mansurova, A., Tsai, C.C., Wu, C.L., Elmas, R., Atik-Kara, D., Kucukkayhan, S., Zaid, A.K., Kouchou, I., Voulgari, A., Sy, O., Sakho, I., Ng, S.B., Charland, P. and Létourneau, A. (2025) 'Belief in neuromyths among primary school teachers: a cross-national study of 11 countries', Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 40, p. 100264. doi: 10.1016/j.tine.2025.100264.
- Tunga, Y., Çelik, B. and Cagiltay, K. (2025) 'Educational myths among teachers: prevalence and refutational intervention for belief change', Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12, 1619. doi: 10.1057/s41599-025-05470-y.
- Pashler, H.E. (1998) The psychology of attention. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Rubinstein, J.S., Meyer, D.E. and Evans, J.E. (2001) 'Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching', Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27(4), pp. 763–797. doi: 10.1037/0096-1523.27.4.763.
- Strayer, D.L. and Johnston, W.A. (2001) 'Driven to distraction: Dual-task studies of simulated driving and conversing on a cellular telephone', Psychological Science, 12(6), pp. 462–466. doi: 10.1111/1467-9280.00386.
