Fox Annie Beth, Rosen Jonathan, Crawford Mary
Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.
Cyberpsychol Behav. 2009 Feb;12(1):51-3. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2008.0107.
Instant messaging (IM) has become one of the most popular forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and is especially prevalent on college campuses. Previous research suggests that IM users often multitask while conversing online. To date, no one has yet examined the cognitive effect of concurrent IM use. Participants in the present study (N = 69) completed a reading comprehension task uninterrupted or while concurrently holding an IM conversation. Participants who IMed while performing the reading task took significantly longer to complete the task, indicating that concurrent IM use negatively affects efficiency. Concurrent IM use did not affect reading comprehension scores. Additional analyses revealed that the more time participants reported spending on IM, the lower their reading comprehension scores. Finally, we found that the more time participants reported spending on IM, the lower their self-reported GPA. Implications and future directions are discussed.
即时通讯（IM）已成为计算机介导沟通（CMC）最流行的形式之一，在大学校园尤为普遍。先前的研究表明，即时通讯用户在在线交谈时经常一心多用。迄今为止，尚未有人研究过同时使用即时通讯的认知影响。本研究的参与者（N = 69）在不受干扰的情况下或在同时进行即时通讯对话时完成了一项阅读理解任务。在执行阅读任务时进行即时通讯的参与者完成任务的时间明显更长，这表明同时使用即时通讯会对效率产生负面影响。同时使用即时通讯并不影响阅读理解分数。进一步分析表明，参与者报告花在即时通讯上的时间越多，他们的阅读理解分数就越低。最后，我们发现参与者报告花在即时通讯上的时间越多，他们自我报告的平均绩点就越低。本文讨论了研究结果的意义和未来方向。
