Date of Award

10-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Research Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Scott A. Gustafson

Second Advisor

Patrick J. Aragon

Third Advisor

Lisa A. Steelman

Fourth Advisor

Brandon May

Abstract

Media use has become an integral part of everyday life. It has risen dramatically over the past century with the advent of television, computers, and digital platforms, and more recently, it has been characterized by individuals using multiple devices simultaneously (Bushman & Anderson, 2001; Nielsen Media Research, 1998; Rideout & Robb, 2019, 2021). Media multitasking (MMT) has been linked to cognitive control challenges and attentional difficulties. This study examined EEG workload (Fz theta/Pz alpha ratio), survey accuracy, and ADHD traits (ASRS v1.1) in 33 adult participants across baseline and single-versus dual-media conditions. Results indicated that mental workload was significantly higher during multitasking compared to baseline but did not differ between single- and dual-media conditions. Behaviorally, survey accuracy declined in the dual-media condition, indicating a performance cost associated with divided attention. However, mental workload and accuracy changes were not directly related, suggesting that resource limits or attentional lapses may explain reduced performance (e.g., the bottleneck effect). ADHD traits (ASRS v1.1) did not predict workload differences or Conners CPT-3 outcomes, though higher inattentive traits were associated with lower baseline workload, and greater multitasking workload was linked to fewer impulsive errors (Conners CPT-3 commission errors).

Overall, findings validate the use of the EEG theta Fz/alpha Pz ratio as a sensitive measure of cognitive workload in the context of media multitasking. The results also indicate that ADHD traits did not moderate these effects, suggesting that ADHD trait measures may capture enduring attentional tendencies rather than transient neural dynamics reflected in moment-to-moment workload activity.

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