Current research trends in multitasking: a bibliometric mapping approach

Abstract

ABSTRACTMultitasking is a very popular topic in the literature on applied connotations. This article attempts to characterise the status of the term and identify current research trends in that regard. A bibliometric mapping method was employed to analyse publications from 2000–2018 featuring the term multitasking among their keywords, found in the Scopus database (N = 324). The results indicate the existence of a few relatively independent research areas, with the following biggest clusters: (1) executive functions and dual task performance, (2) divided attention, higher education and social media, (3) task switching and individual differences, and finally, (4) multitasking and school learning. It shows clearly that in their explanations of multitasking, researchers refer to such terms as divided attention, attentional set-shifting or other executive mechanisms. Multitasking itself is used basically in the applied context. Taken together, these observations suggest that the term is of a descriptive character.