Behavioral performance and visual attention in communication multitasking: A comparison between instant messaging and online voice chat

  • Authors:

  • Zheng Wang;Prabu David;Jatin Srivastava;Stacie Powers;Christine Brady;Jonathan D'Angelo;Jennifer Moreland

  • Affiliations:

  • School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Derby Hall, 154 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, United States;The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, 101 Communication Addition, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, United States;E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University, 32 Park Place Athens, OH 45701, United States;School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Derby Hall, 154 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, United States;School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Derby Hall, 154 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, United States;School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Derby Hall, 154 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, United States;School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Derby Hall, 154 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, United States

  • Venue:
  • Computers in Human Behavior
  • Year:
  • 2012

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Abstract

Participants carried out a visual pattern-matching task on a computer while communicating with a confederate either via instant messaging (IM) or online voice chat. Communicating with a confederate led to a 50% drop in visual pattern-matching performance in the IM condition and a 30% drop in the voice condition. Visual fixations on pattern-matching were fewer and shorter during the communication task and a greater loss of fixations was found in the IM condition than the voice condition. The results, examined within a threaded cognition framework, suggest that distributing the work between the audio and visual channels reduces performance degradation. Implications for media literacy and distracted-driving are discussed.