We replicate the finding that females perform better than males in the task switching type of multitasking. We also find that multitasking impairs cognitive reflection through ego depletion, regardless of gender. However, the cognitive reflection of males is relatively more weakened after multitasking. This suggests that ego depletion may be an interesting candidate mechanism to explain gender differences in multitasking performance.
BurgessP. W., VeitchE., CostelloA. D., & ShalliceT. (2000). The cognitive and neuroanatomical correlates of multitasking. Neuropsychologia, 38, 848–863. doi: 10.1016/S0028-3932(99)00134-7
Da SilvaS., Da CostaN.Jr., MatsushitaR., VieiraC., CorreaA., & De FaveriD. (2018). Debt of high-income consumers may reflect leverage rather than poor cognitive reflection. Review of Behavioral Finance, 10, 42–52. doi: 10.1108/RBF-07-2016-0046
4.
EvansJ. S. B. T. (2003). In two minds: Dual-process accounts of reasoning. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 454–459. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2003.08.012
5.
FrederickS. (2005). Cognitive reflection and decision making. Journal of Economics Perspectives, 19, 25–42. doi: 10.1257/089533005775196732
6.
KahnemanD. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
MuravenM., TiceD. M., & BaumeisterR. F. (1998). Self-control as a limited resource: Regulatory depletion patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 774–789. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.74.3.774
10.
RenD., ZhouH., & FuX. (2009). A deeper look at gender difference in multitasking: Gender-specific mechanism of cognitive control. Fifth International Conference on Natural Computation, IEEE Computer Society, Washington, 13–17.
11.
SalvucciD. D., & TaatgenN. A. (2010). The multitasking mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
12.
SchmeichelB. J., VohsK. D., & BaumeisterR. F. (2003). Intellectual performance and ego depletion: Role of the self in logical reasoning and other information processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 33–46. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.1.33
13.
StanovichK. E. (2004). The robot’s rebellion: Finding meaning in the age of Darwin. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.
14.
StoetG., O’ConnorD. B., ConnerM., & LawsK. R. (2013). Are women better than men at multi-tasking?BMC Psychology, 1, 18. doi: 10.1186/2050-7283-1-18
15.
StrayerD. L., & WatsonJ. M. (2012). Supertaskers and the multitasking brain. Scientific American Mind, 23(1), 22–29.
16.
ToplakM. E., WestR. F., & StanovichK. E. (2011). The cognitive reflection test as a predictor of performance on heuristics-and-biases tasks. Memory and Cognition, 39, 1275–1289. doi: 10.3758/s13421-011-0104-1
17.
WenzelM., ZahnD., & KubiakT. (2018). Practice conquers it all: Even if the ego depletion effect is genuine, it may not be relevant. PsyArXiv Preprints, doi: 10.31234/osf.io/pvefx