Psychologist Linda Stone (lindastone.net) has been researching the phenomenon of Continuous Partial Attention (CPA), which sounds a great deal like Fear of Missing Something (FOMS) that I described in my last post.  She describes CPA as a dominant form of attention giving in modern society. She distinguishes CPA from multitasking, which is driven by different motivation. When you multitask, you are seeking to be more productive and efficient. Multitasking generally is given over to behavior that is automatic, requiring little cognitive processing.  Things like scanning e-mail while talking on the phone or meeting with a colleague over lunch are typical.  You are trying to get as many things done at one time as possible, presumably to make more time available for more meaningful pursuits.  My grave reservations of multitasking are (1) it is more difficult to carry out each individual task right, during multitasking, than if it were done as a single task and (2) people have difficulty in assessing what activities are appropriate for multitasking behavior. Whoever dreamed that you could text on a handheld device while driving or even scroll through an address list while jogging, probably isn’t who I want as my surgeon, lawyer or accountant. Keep Reading »