LITTLE ROCK — Ah, I suspected it. But of course I’m not a big-shot research scientist, so nobody would have listened had I voiced this suspicion.
That suspicion has now been backed up, thanks to a big-shot research scientist.
“Now you have a good excuse when your boss catches you looking at LOLcats [pictures of cats with humorous text included] on the computer,” writes Erin Skarda in a newsfeed.time.com article, “The Case for Cute Kitty Videos: Study Shows Distractions Help You Focus.” It turns out that brief diversions can actually help concentration and improve overall work performance.
Alejandro Lleras, a professor at Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana, says one’s attention span is like a gas tank. It “needs to be refilled during short breaks,” Skarda writes.
Blythe Bernhard of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, whose story about the study turns up on multiple websites and was referenced by Skarda, explains further.
“Sustained attention to a thought can cause that thought to disappear,” Bernhard writes. “But if you are given something else to think about, the original thought will seem fresh when you return to it.”
Wait, what’s this other story on the newsfeed? Sarah Ferguson not invited to the royal wedding? And Beavis and Butt-head return to MTV? Hold on while I check these out.
OK. Anyway, Lleras tested the distraction theory by asking students to focus on an hour-long show of numbers flashing on a computer screen. One group got nothing but the flashing numbers. Other groups were told to memorize the numbers and wait for them to pop up on the screen. The “memorize and wait for” testtakers were able to keep their concentration, while the other group’s attention drifted off after 20 minutes.
To go back to my recent column about the humorous charts and graphs, particularly the one titled “What Is Running Through My Head at Work” - I’d even venture to argue that it’s actually beneficial to have “the theme song to the Gummi Bears” running through my head. Especially now that I’ve gone to YouTube and heard thesong, plus seen the opening of Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears. Another healthy and valuable distraction! And much better than the Care Bears introduction!
Come to think of it, I wonder if Lleras’ control group ended up looking at the cats or the Gummi or Care bears? Maybe they caught the latest sale at Shoes.com. Let me check that sale out for a few seconds. Wait - what the heck? “Australian Town Changes Name From Speed to SpeedKills”? Got my attention. Or should I read “The 100 Greatest Toys of All-Time”?
Ahem, sorry. What I loveLleras the most for is the statement he gave the Post-Dispatch: “It’s unrealistic to expect people to focus at high levels for a long period of time. It’s important to create an environment where it’s OK to take small breaks.”
Skarda cautions that this finding “doesn’t mean that you should spend half the workday watching Britney Spears videos.” Ironically (or perhaps deliberately), the top of the web page carrying her story bears a “Trending Now” link section whose last entry is - Britney Spears! Let’s click on it. Hmm, something about the blatant product placement in a new video. Yeah, well, what else is new - oops, I need to finish this column.
Anyhow, it’s safe to add thatpursuing even short distractions is probably not a good idea in some instances, such as during a sermon in a small church, while driving in rushhour traffic, or during one of Lleras’ lectures.
But anybody who has to sit at a computer for hours at a time has no doubt cheered while reading this find and, if they dared, slipped a printout in the mailbox of the boss or even wiggled it in his face.
And some great inventions have come about during diversions, maybe even the Gummi Bears. OK, finished. Now let me catch those LOLcats pictures.
I’m sorry, what were you e-mailing?
Style, Pages 45 on 02/27/2011