Cost-benefit Assessment Of Cognitive Control In Media Multitaskers

Media users are increasingly inclined to simultaneously consume two or more sources of information content. This information consuming behavior has become a widespread phenomenon, and gradually by researchers concerned become a hot topic. But previous studies suggest that media multitasking and limited cognitive ability to control contrary, in fact, the media and other multitasking may run counter to the principle of cognition, such as minimizing the effort and cost of controlling internal processing. This study investigated the frequent media multitasking is consistent with efforts to reduce, if such media user controlled processing of internal cost estimate is relatively low. Through three researches to answer this question.The first study investigate media multitasker decide to execute cognitive control. Through different dimensions of cognitive control to manipulate the level of cognitive effort. Three experiments were investigated light media multitasker (LMM) and heavy media multitaskers (HMM) execute diverse dimensions of cognitive-control of decisions. Experiment 1 investigated LMM and HMM decision of task switching; Experiment 2 study HMM and LMM engaged in the situational shift decision-making; Experiment 3 study HMM and LMM avoid cognitive inhibition. Those experiment indicated that no group differences in performance on cognitive-control, but HMM selected more low control demanding tasks than LMM.The second study investigate media multitaskers evaluate the cost and benefit of decision to engage in cognitive control. Based on the expected value theory, three experiments study media mulititaser' decision difference when they have the same expected reward value of cognitive control task. The results showed that the same expected reward value, HMM chosed less cognitive control than LMM. Furthermore, the experiment 7 measure subjective evaluation of cognitive control via time discount of choice titration procedure. The results show that HMM had a higher discount effect, and subjective estimates of the higher cost of cognitive control. Similarly, the second study showed there is no group difference of performance on various dimensions of cognitive control between HMM and LMM.In line with the labor supply theory, the third study through an experimental investigate a labor leisure tradeoff in cognitive control of HMM and LMM to further investigate media multitaskers' evaluation of cost-benefit to cognitive control. Reduce wages and lower income compensation case, HMM and LMM didn't change their cognitive and leisure time allocation portfolio because of reduced wages.