The Effect of a Stress Condition on an Ecological Measure of Multitasking

Abstract

Stress hormones have been shown to influence the frontal lobes, adversely impacting the executive functions which rely on them. These same executive processes have been found to underlie multitasking ability. Therefore, it was expected that a stress condition using time constraint and ego threat, would impair performance on an ecologically valid measure of multitasking, the simulated breakfast task. However, no significant effect of the stress condition was found on breakfast task performance. The evidence suggests that the stress condition was not sufficient in eliciting a stress response in the younger adults tested. General results consistent with other research on multitasking support this studies design and suggest the present experiment should be replicated using a more effective stressor.