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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6323743" data-attributes="member: 177">That amplifies the disparity, so that it becomes obvious in a demonstration that takes 90 seconds.  But, the effect is still there.Try this as a demonstration, then.  Take two books off your shelf at random.  Sit them side by side, and copy the first page of each.In one trial, copy first one page, then the other page.In the second trial, copy the first line of one page, then the first line of the second.  Then the second line of one, and the second line of the other, and so forth.Or, have the material read aloud, in the same fashion.  I can pretty much guarantee you that the second trial will be slower, even after usign the first to familiarize yourself with the texts!You'll say, "But now it is because they have to switch documents!"  Yes.  That's part of the point.  You have to switch documents and re-find your position when you switch from Facebook to your character sheet, too.  The effect can be made apparent in other ways - create something like a test you'd see in grade school.  The first page is a multi-part math problem.  The second page is reading comprehension and the following questions.Now, create a second test - questions are alternated:  One bit of the math, one bit of the reading comp.  Another bit of math, another bit of reading comp - all on one paper.  And again, you'll see the reduced performance in trying to swap between different kinds of tasks, having to refer back to different bases of mental action.</blockquote>

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