Distraction: noun
- 1.a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else."the company found passenger travel a distraction from the main business of moving freight"
Growing up in America today is to be a part of a society that is rapidly and constantly changing. The fact is you are surrounded by technology and information and spend a large portion of your time interacting with it. But what is it doing to your brain?
As we saw from the video in class, our brains are not wired for multi-tasking. Some tasks require more concentration than others and when we switch between many tasks we lose focus.
Specific Instructions: For this post think about something you do that requires your full attention. Then think about your habits with technology while trying to concentrate. Do you listen to music while doing homework? Is that bad? Do you respond to texts while doing homework? Then go online and find evidence to support your response. Please include the link to the site you use in your response. -5 points if you respond with no link. Do not copy other people's posts, ideas or links. You will get a 0 for plagiarizing.
If you missed the video in class please watch the first 8:40 minutes of this documentary:
Although I multi-task sometimes, I do not attempt to multi-task when studying. However, I do enjoy listening to music while doing my homework. I find that it helps me focus rather than distracting me since I have trouble thinking in silence. Sometimes I am tempted to respond to text messages or emails while I do my homework, but I have noted that it decreases the quality of my work. Although listening to music while doing my homework can be beneficial, I have noticed that I am unable to study thoroughly if I listen to music or have my phone near me when I study for a test. Like stated in this article, ( http://www.edutopia.org/blog/dont-listen-music-while-studying-david-cutler ) listening to music while studying can hurt your focus by changing your thoughts or mood. Therefore, I keep my phone in a separate room when I study to avoid temptation, and this has helped me improve my test scores.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Lily. Good link as well. The study found: "as long as she does something enjoyable before hitting the books -- whether it's listening to music or doing anything else -- past studies have shown that this can produce the same positive effect on performance."
DeleteWhen I do homework, I usually listen to music, but don't respond to texts. To give my full attention to something, I need little to no background noise. Even though music helps me, it depends on the situation. For example, when I am study for a test, I make sure that nothing distracts me. This is because I need to memorize something, and music prevents me from doing so. When I'm doing a homework assignment, however, it helps me greatly. These facts are also stated in the article below.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.personal.psu.edu/afr3/blogs/SIOW/2011/10/school-work-and-studying-music-or-no-music.html
Good. Your source referenced this study which found "that participants performed worst while listening to music, regardless of whether they liked that music, and to the speech of random numbers. They did the best in the quiet and while listening to the repeated "three."
DeleteSomething that requires my full attention is actually homework. While I do my homework I listen to music or sometimes even watch television. I believe it is very detrimental for me to be watching TV while also doing my homework but, in my own case I need to hear some sort of noise to concentrate. (Even though I look away from my homework (sometimes) to watch what the latest reality show is) When I do find myself watching something all to much, I automatically shut the tv off and go back to my work and daily studies. Any type of electronic can cause distraction but in my case it is mostly the television. Here is the article to support my conclusion. http://youthvoices.net/discussion/does-television-distract-students-school
ReplyDeleteListen to your intuition and the science helps too: "Previous studies have found links between the ability to learn and TV watching, including a study that found that children with TVs in their bedrooms scored about eight points lower on math and language arts tests than children without bedroom TVs."
Deletehttp://www.nbcnews.com/id/15105253/ns/health-childrens_health/t/watching-tv-school-night-bad-grades/#.VkEB09KrRhF
Something that requires my full attention is homework and studying. I used to listen to music while doing these things, but I recently realized that it isn't beneficial. I 100% remember things better, and get more homework questions right when I do it in silence. I still keep my phone close to me while I'm studying even though I know it isn't favorable; but if I find that I am checking it too much I will put it away. For me, having any type of electronic or loud noise around me can distract me greatly.
ReplyDeletehttp://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/27/music-may-harm-your-studying-study-says/
Well done Eva. Changing behavior can be hard to do but it can make all the difference.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThere are many things that require my full attention like homework, studying, and playing an instrument. I often listen to music, talk to friends, check any profiles, or focus on other activities like playing games on a device. I know that this is a bad decision, but it has become a habit of mine. However, I do not listen to music anymore while doing anything that requires my full attention. I also limit the amount of time I spend talking to friends, playing games, and checking profiles. I try to keep it to a minimum of a few minutes in total. It helps if I leave any deices that I don't need in a different room.
ReplyDeletehttps://blog.bufferapp.com/what-multitasking-does-to-our-brains
http://www.brainfacts.org/sensing-thinking-behaving/awareness-and-attention/articles/2013/the-multitasking-mind/
In between doing homework assignments, I check my texts and all other social medias. I use it as a reward, like if I finish an assignment I can respond to a text, and that keeps my motivated. During an assignment that may take a long time, I may put on music in the background to help keep me somewhat entertained. I don't see my habits as terrible because over time I honed the ability to handle them and not get lost in my devices. According to this site, brains are not built for multitasking, which is why I try to limit myself with only texting after I complete homework assignments. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/05/multitasking_while_studying_divided_attention_and_technological_gadgets.html
ReplyDeleteGreat article. Good research.
DeleteSomething that requires my full attention is homework and studying. I do not listen to music while doing homework. However, I do check my social media sites and my text messages. My phone is always near me while I'm studying and doing homework. Sometimes my phone gets too distracting. It's hard to concentrate with my phone near me. I can't listen to music while doing homework. I need complete silence. I try not to spend too much time on my phone while doing homework. It is impossible to multi-task while doing homework. According to the article, studies say that people can't focus on their work while multi-tasking. http://www.beachpsych.com/pages/cc126.html
ReplyDeleteGood source Briann: "decades of experiments on adults have proved that performance suffers when people try to multi-task."
DeleteWhile I do my homework, I like to listen to music. I believe that this helps me concentrate and it gets me in a better mood. Studies have shown that music can benefit your attention, memory, and ability to do mental math. The article states that Mozart's music is beneficial to your memory. However, listening to music can often distract me, and I have to change certain songs so I don't get distracted. The articile states that music can negatively interfere with short term memory. It can throw you off in memorizing things in order.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.uloop.com/news/view.php/149570/Do-Or-Dont-Studying-While-Listening-To
I usually listen to music while doing my homework. I don't know if this is the best idea because it lifts my focus to the music sometimes. But according to this website it depends on what type of music you are listening to. here is the website
ReplyDeletehttp://education.seattlepi.com/listening-music-doing-homework-affect-grade-school-1365.html
While doing my home work and studying, I listen to music. I think it helps me concentrate and it makes homework not as tiring as it is. Research has shown that music with lyrics is more of a distraction then soothing music with no lyrics. The article says that some students who listen to music while studying and then listen to music while taking the test will score well. Unfortunately, most students do not get the chance to listen to music while taking tests in most schools. Listening to music while studying can also boost motivation, and help put people in a better mood.
ReplyDeletehttp://education.seattlepi.com/listening-music-doing-homework-affect-grade-school-1365.html
While doing my homework, I tend to listen to music. I do that for all of my subjects except for math. That need my full attention. I really only listen to calm music and nothing too crazy while doing my homework. I'm not sure if this helps or not
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mindthesciencegap.org/2012/10/08/does-music-help-you-study/
I used to listen to music while doing homework. I know some music is fine to listen to but I used to always listen to the songs that are upbeat, have lyrics, and are one of my favorite songs. But, last year, I realized that listening to music does not help me with finishing my work quickly and correctly. I realized that when I did homework while listening to music, I got most of the answers wrong. So I pulled myself out of that habit.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.beyondbooksmart.com/executive-functioning-strategies-blog/distracted-by-technology-focusing-attention-on-homework