The limit of "multitasking" of a person is four

Many advanced managers like to imagine themselves as “multi-headed monsters” who can simultaneously perform several tasks, such as checking email, talking on the phone and watching the daily stock quotes of a company on the stock exchange, etc. But they are wasting time if they try to concentrate on more than four processes at the same time, say scientists from the University of Oregon, USA.

The researchers found that our brain has a kind of pre-set nature limit on the number of concurrent thought processes. For most individuals, this limit is four and cannot be overcome either by will power or by long training sessions. Moreover, in the case of performing complex mental exercises, the restriction applies to the number of simultaneously solved tasks in the "multitasking mental app."

In addition, the researchers found a strong correlation between the amount of short-term memory of a person and his intellect. For example, people with potentially high IQ are capable of solving several tasks at the same time, however there is no certainty that they can successfully pass stress tests or be useful at work. Their memory can be very capacious, but not enough free to complete the work. Such people reflect a lot and are known as “analysts”, but the practical output of their mental efforts, as a rule, is not high.
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The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (USA) and the National Science Foundation (USA).

- Material taken from the site www.3dnews.ru (link to the article here )