<p><strong>Introduction:</strong></p>
<p>Based on an article on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralization_of_brain_function#Advantages_of_brain_lateralization" rel="nofollow noreferrer">brain laterization</a>, it's said that a lateralized brain can do two tasks simultaneously.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Lateralized chicks could pick food out of the pebbles with one eye and one half of the brain while using the other eye and other half of their brain to monitor the skies for predators. Not only could non-lateralized chicks not complete the two tasks simultaneously, but their performance of the single task deteriorated. This suggests that the evolutionary advantage of lateralization comes from the capacity to perform separate parallel tasks in each hemisphere of the brain.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Question:</strong></p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/multitasking-2795003" rel="nofollow noreferrer">multitasking is counterproductive</a>, do we have research or examples showing that bi-tasking may be actually improving productivity?</p>
<p><strong>Extra details:</strong>
If you have answers, it'd be great to add details on topics such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>does bi-tasking work in some types of people better than others?;</li>
<li>what are the most productive cases of bi-tasking and what are ones which bring only marginal benefits;</li>
<li>does your example of bi-tasking impede other abilities when practicing it and does it have any long-term effects (either good or bad)?</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-26T18:58:28.977Z
`could a person read a book and then listen to another audio book at the same time?` - unlikely, considering that in both cases one is processing speech (reading / listening may be possible, but dialog would present a problem).  I don't have a reference for this at the moment, but similar processing tasks will overlap each other.  `Reading/listening` would overlap while `doing dishes/listening` would not.
BenCole
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-17T22:11:21.257Z
Related qwuestion: https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/5021/why-do-certain-activities-seem-to-co-occur-with-well-learnt-skills
drabsv
<cognitive-psychology><cognitive-modeling><concentration><multi-tasking>
Could bi-tasking be productive in humans?
Muz
# Could bi-tasking be productive in humans?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-01-26)

**Introduction:**

Based on an article on [brain laterization](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralization_of_brain_function#Advantages_of_brain_lateralization), it's said that a lateralized brain can do two tasks simultaneously.

> Lateralized chicks could pick food out of the pebbles with one eye and one half of the brain while using the other eye and other half of their brain to monitor the skies for predators. Not only could non-lateralized chicks not complete the two tasks simultaneously, but their performance of the single task deteriorated. This suggests that the evolutionary advantage of lateralization comes from the capacity to perform separate parallel tasks in each hemisphere of the brain.

**Question:**

While [multitasking is counterproductive](https://www.verywellmind.com/multitasking-2795003), do we have research or examples showing that bi-tasking may be actually improving productivity?

**Extra details:**
If you have answers, it'd be great to add details on topics such as:

* does bi-tasking work in some types of people better than others?;
* what are the most productive cases of bi-tasking and what are ones which bring only marginal benefits;
* does your example of bi-tasking impede other abilities when practicing it and does it have any long-term effects (either good or bad)?

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, cognitive-modeling, concentration, multi-tasking

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: `could a person read a book and then listen to another audio book at the same time?` - unlikely, considering that in both cases one is processing speech (reading / listening may be possible, but dialog would present a problem).  I don't have a reference for this at the moment, but similar processing tasks will overlap each other.  `Reading/listening` would overlap while `doing dishes/listening` would not.  
> **username_2**: Related qwuestion: https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/5021/why-do-certain-activities-seem-to-co-occur-with-well-learnt-skills  

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## 0 answers

