Gender differences in multitasking

In this project we aim to investigate whether men and women differ in their way they are multitasking, which means doing two or more tasks at the same time.

Multitasking has become a ubiquitous activity in our everyday life, including the work life. In this project, we try to find out whether men and women differ in multitasking in many respects. For instance, we investigate whether one sex is better at multitasking than the other (or not), whether there are difference in the preference to engage in multitasking, whether there are differences in the brain areas involved in multitasking, and whether our findings hold for computerised laboratory tasks as well as more ecologically valid real-life tasks.
First, findings from this research is of interest to the science community because it deepens our understanding of how the (female and male) human mind works. Second, findings of this research is of interest for applications such as design of workplaces or human-machine (computer)-interfaces.

Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Dr Andre Szameitat - Reader in Cognitive Neuroscience. Brief CV: After my general study of Psychology I conducted my PhD at the Max-Planck-Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Leipzig, Germany. In 2003 I joined the University of Surrey as a post-doc. After this post-doc position I went back to Germany to work in Munich as lecturer in the international Master’s program Neurocognitive Psychology. I joined Brunel University London as a Reader in September 2013. Qualifications: 2011 Habilitation, venia legendi in Psychology, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich/Germany 2002 PhD in Psychology, Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Leipzig/Germany 1999 Diploma (Dipl.-Psych.; MSc equiv.) in Psychology, Technical University Braunschweig/Germany Research area(s) Effect of Meditation on mood and cognition Effect of Nature vs Urban experiences on mood and cognition Executive Control and Prefrontal Cortex Multitasking, Working Memory Brain Imaging (fMRI) & Behavioural Methods

Related Research Group(s)

Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience - Fundamental and applied research into brain function using techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), eye-tracking, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), infrared thermography together with psychophysics and cognitive behavioural paradigms in health and disease.

Project last modified 04/10/2022