#Suggest tasks trial

There thus appear to be two parts to the switch cost - one attributable to the time taken to adjust the mental control settings (which can be done in advance it there is time), and another part due to competition due to carry-over of the control settings from the previous trial (apparently immune to preparation). Moreover, increasing the time available between trials for preparation reduced but did not eliminate the cost of switching. In the mid-1990s, Robert Rogers, PhD, and Stephen Monsell, D.Phil, found that even when people had to switch completely predictably between two tasks every two or four trials, they were still slower on task-switch than on task-repeat trials. They also assess how different aspects of the tasks, such as complexity or familiarity, affect any extra time cost of switching. By comparing how long it takes for people to get everything done, the psychologists can measure the cost in time for switching tasks. To determine the costs of this kind of mental 'juggling,' psychologists conduct task-switching experiments. from one task to another, or perform two or more tasks in rapid succession. Multitasking can take place when someone tries to perform two tasks simultaneously, switch. Psychologists tend to liken the job to choreography or air-traffic control, noting that in these operations, as in others, mental overload can result in catastrophe.

Psychologists who study what happens to cognition (mental processes) when people try to perform more than one task at a time have found that the mind and brain were not designed for heavy-duty multitasking. Although that shouldn't surprise anyone who has talked on the phone while checking E-mail or talked on a cell phone while driving, the extent of the problem might come as a shock. Doing more than one task at a time, especially more than one complex task, takes a toll on productivity.