CONTACT: C. Shawn Green, 608-263-4868, cshawn.green@wisc.edu;
Thomas Gorman, 608-617-0138, tegorman@wisc.edu
WHEN INHALING MEDIA ERODES ATTENTION, EXHALING PROVIDES FOCUS
MADISON – People who often mix their media consumption – texting while watching TV, or listening to music while reading – are not known for being able to hold their attention on one task. But sharpening their focus may be as simple as breathing.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have shown that heavy media multitaskers benefited from a short meditation exercise in which they sat quietly counting their breaths.
“In general, people perform better after this mindfulness task,” says Thomas Gorman, first author of the study, which was published April 18 by the journal Scientific Reports. “But we found a significant difference for heavy media multitaskers. They improved even more on tests of their attention.”
Juggling the demands of competing media sources has grown increasingly common as music, video, news and messaging creep onto more devices and into more day-to-day activities.
“Many people have had the experience where they’ve felt a phantom phone ring or vibration in their pocket,” says C. Shawn Green, UW-Madison psychology professor and senior author of the study. “That means part of your attention is actively monitoring your leg, even while you’re trying to do other things.”
Read more at http://news.wisc.edu/when-inhaling-media-erodes-attention-exhaling-provides-focus/
