Kristin's Research Summary 2
Kristin Theimer
Cognitive Psychology
Article Summary 2
April 8, 2008
There are many different kinds of distractions that visual stimulants can invoke. These can be in the car, the workplace, or even at home.
Those that have cell phones know that you can’t stop them from ringing while driving, but you can use a hands-free device to eliminate some distraction and free up your hands. However, the new fad is instant text messaging which involves looking at a screen. This may not be so great for drivers hoping to make it to their destination safely. The American Psychological Association did some research on the topic and found that with any type of cell phone usage, Americans are associated with the odds of having 4 times more accidents than focused drivers. Ironically enough, these odds were comparable to driving with a blood alcohol just at the legal limit.
Other in-car gadgets such as OnStar and other GPS and navigation systems bring forth additional problems. They were originally created to help people stuck in their cars on long commutes or travel, but end up hurting them sometimes instead. David Strayer, PhD, of the Applied Cognition Laboratory at the University of Utah, has studied cell phone usage for 5 years and has found that talking on a cell phone may cause some “inattention blindness” because of limited capacities found in humans. (American Psychological Association, 2006).
A typical office situation does not allow for very much quiet or private time to gather thoughts or stay on task. “In a survey of 13,000 office employees the workplace attribute to be found to be most effective was the ability to do distraction-free solo work” (Mardex,2004). Seeing somebody walk by is very distracting, but also feeling like you’re being watched while working is also disturbing. The brain and cognitive processing is affected differently by visual stimuli than by auditory stimuli. There is a part of the brain that makes for task reorientation after an auditory distraction. However, this does not occur after a visual distraction, making it harder to get back on task after being distracted visually (Mardex, 2004). Therefore, a balance is needed between privacy and interactions to have a good, healthy workspace that promotes privacy as well as inter-employee relations.
Working from the home is another area that has been covered and researched lately, especially since many former commuters have been working from a home office to cut financial costs and save time. Although the office is at home, where they are most comfortable, this may create another problem. With comfort, may come many distractions. Even though a boss isn’t looking over the workers shoulder making sure to keep them on task, staying on task is still a big deal—and may be difficult to do.
Things such as office location, work hours, friends or family, TV, internet, and office clutter are visual distractions that need to be avoided. Some tips from author Venice Kachura, of “Staying Focused Working from Home” include: pick a quiet place for an office space that is in a permanent location so you aren’t moving every day because you feel like working someplace else. Get rid of items on your desk that create clutter especially if they are not applicable to your job. Find them other places in the house to be stored and filed. Establish schedules and stick by them. If daily chores or phone calls are bothering you, make sure you start off by only doing them after your scheduled work hours, otherwise, you’ll be distracted all day and get nothing done. A big household distraction is the television. Try taping your favorite shows so that you’re not taking extended breaks to watch while you should be working. Internet also proposes a problem. Although it is very helpful, in its own way it is also very distracting. Instant messaging boxes pop up, email, and other websites can propose a visual distraction so make sure that you’re signed out of your messenger, not checking email unless its applicable, and staying away from the unnecessary web pages.
No matter where, when, or what you are doing visual distractions can interrupt your train of thought and cause more trouble than good. Learning to deal with them may be difficult at first, but worth it in the long run.
American Psychological Association. (2006). Driven to Distraction.
http://www.psychologymatters.org/driverdistract. 10 April 2008.
Kichura, V. (2008). Staying focused working at home: Tips for dealing with household distractions.
www.smallhomebusiness.suite101.com/article.cfm/staying_focused_working_at_home. 8 April 2008.
Mardex, J. (2004). Auditory, visual, and physical distractions in the workplace.
Cornell University, Department of Design and Environmental Analysis.
