Multitasking

[Bella Pines]

I wonder if this is more a male, female thing? Not sure, maybe an adhd thing? I don't really think it is an aspie thing because I know aspies who both can and can't.

I have to multitask, I actually can't concentrate on a single task, ever. Even now I have 5 browser windows open, photoshop, scrivener and the TV on, occasionally checking my phone. I do one thing at once but not for long and then jump to the next whilst listening to the TV in the background, but nothing for more than 10 minutes. Is that multitasking or serial single tasking?

However, I CANNOT context switch. I have my 8 things, and that is where my head is. I can't wind down and easily concentrate on work, or eat dinner. So maybe then it's not about multitasking but about having your head in the right place to hyperfocus on one or many things.

 

[SplendidSnail]

I wonder if this is more a male, female thing? Not sure, maybe an adhd thing? I don't really think it is an aspie thing because I know aspies who both can and can't.

I think it's both a Male/Female thing and also an ASD thing.

Mythbusters did test multitasking among men and women and found women are better at multitasking than men. Although Mythbusters tests aren't exactly truly scientific.

I've also read several articles talking about how Executive Functioning is definitely an area that many people with ASD struggle with, and an important component of Executive Functioning is multitasking. That said, like every other aspect of ASD, it's a spectrum, so some people will always be better than others at it.

Here's an online test about multitasking: Multitasking Test

When I did the test, I got the following results:

Speed: On average, you took 2.91 seconds to find and select an item. Other participants needed 3.22 seconds on average.

More interestingly, however, when you had to remember lots of symbols, you slowed down by 5.27%. Others slowed down by 0.21%.

Memory: On average, you made 0 mistake(s) when remembering memorized symbols. Other people made 0.14 mistakes on average.

Attention on the clicking task: Your attention score was the highest when you had to remember 4 symbol(s) and lowest when you had to remember 1 symbol(s). On average, other participants had the highest attention scores when they had to remember 2 symbols and lowest when they had to remember 6 symbols.

 

[ksheehan88]

I'm terrible at multitasking. Which is why I think no matter how many driving lessons I have I will never be able to drive lol.