Media Multitasking, Attention and News Evaluation
Media multitasking is common in today's life, but its impact is not clear. This study used a mixed methods research design to explore the influence of media multitasking on attention (task switching and sustained focus) and the influence of attention on undergraduate students' ability to evaluate news. Sixty Shanghai undergraduates read six pieces of news on smartphones. Results showed that heavy media multitaskers had poorer attention sustainability and worse ability to detect fake news. However, media multitasking did not appear to affect an individual's attention switching, and attention switching did not appear to be related to news evaluation ability. This study indicated that students' daily media multitasking and weak attentional focus when reading news may influence the spread of fake news.
2019 Eighth International Conference on Educational Innovation through Technology (EITT)