You might want to persuade your boss to scrap those open-office plans. A study from Michigan State University found that distractions — even short ones lasting less than three seconds — can double the number of mistakes we make.
The researchers asked 300 MSU students to complete a complex, multi-step task on the computer. After roughly every sixth step completed, a “CAPTCHA” box would pop up on screen and remain there until students typed the characters into the text bar and pressed “Enter.”
In the first trial, the code was only four characters long, and students took an average of 4.4 seconds to get rid of the interruption. In the second trial, the code was two characters, and the mean interruption time was 2.8 seconds. According to the researchers, students made three times as many errors after the 4.4 second interruption and two times as many errors after the 2.8 second interruption. Read more...
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