Multitasking Capability: Do Age or Gender Matter?

Overview

Objectives/Goals Multitasking describes what an individual does who is participating in more than one task simultaneously. The purpose of this project was to try to assess whether males or females are better at multitasking and at what age the ability to multitask is at its peak. Methods/Materials Ninety five test subjects between the ages of seven and 86 were divided into six age groups and given a multitasking test incorporating both visual and verbal cues. Subjects looked at a series of triangles and were instructed to record information regarding the triangles while simultaneously, a voice recording instructed subjects to write down letters or numbers in another column on the answer sheet. Results Of the six age groups tested, the 20 to 39 year old age group scored highest with an average score of 42.3 points. The ten to nineteen year olds had a 7% lower average score at 39.3 points. The 60-69 year olds had a 25% lower mean score of 32 points. The 40-59 year olds ranked fourth with a mean score of only 30.7 points. The 70 and older age group ranked fifth with a mean of 22.3 points. The 7 year olds scored lowest with a mean score of 17 points. The mean score for males was 36.7 points, which was significantly different from the mean female score of 33.1 points. Conclusions/Discussion In this study, on average, the males scored higher than the females in their ability to multitask. The results of this study suggest that the ability to multitask may peak between the ages of 20 and 39, and drop dramatically after the age of 70. The results of this test also suggest that men may be slightly better at multitasking or at least as good at multitasking as women.

Competition history

• CSEF 2009 Behavioral & Social Sciences · Entry J0318

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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