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Trying to pay attention to several sources of information at once can hinder memory, but a UCLA study found that even distracted people can remember important facts.
Distractions diminish people's ability to remember, but important facts still stick, UCLA psychologists report. Stuart Wolpert - "In a world of computers and iPhones, it's rare that we're fully focused," said Alan Castel, a UCLA professor of psychology. But how much do all of those distractions diminish our ability to remember? A new study led by Castel and Catherine Middlebrooks, a UCLA graduate student, found that while divided attention does impair memory, people can still selectively focus on what is most important — even while they're multitasking. In one experiment, the researchers showed 192 students 120 words, divided into six groups of 20 words each. Each word was visible on a computer screen for three seconds, and each was paired with a number from 1 to 10. Researchers explained to the students that they would receive scores based on the point value of each word they remembered, making the words with high point values "more important" than the others. The participants, all UCLA students, were assigned to one of four groups: One group gave the task their undivided attention.
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