Alina Tugend, a columnist for the New York Times, analyzes and informs the general population about the negative side effects of multitasking in her 2008 report “Multitasking Can Make You Lose… Um. .. Focus. " Tugend gathers a multitude of supporting evidence by exhibiting research completed by psychiatrists, neuroscientists and a psychology professor. The facts he incorporates into his article support his thesis, as they all demonstrate how multitasking can reduce the quality of our work and how the our brain is biologically incapable of effectively concentrating on multiple tasks at the same time. Say no to plagiarism Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Tugend begins his essay by asking a series of questions such as: "are you listening to music or the radio?" Are you emailing or instant messaging at the same time?." These questions direct the reader's attention to the focus of your article, as they make him aware of how unconsciously our society has normalized carrying out several tasks at the same time, even if they are as trivial as turning on the television while working on a task or engaging in a phone conversation while grilling a steak. Tugend successfully incorporates data from medical professionals such as neuroscientist Earl Miller, who studied the decrease in the amount of neurons firing in response to multiple visual stimuli, and psychology professor David Meyer, whose research on young adults changing attention to various tasks showed that such tests not only took longer to complete, but the subjects had difficulty concentrating on the more difficult tasks. Furthermore, Tugend shifts from focusing on the quality of the tasks performed to the negative effects that the person performing those tasks may suffer. He references a study by Gloria Mark, a computer science professor, who analyzed the amount of stress, pressure and frustration participants showed when they were interrupted while completing a task. Tugend concludes his report by stating that multitasking is a trait that people have developed over the years and it occurs without us realizing it, but he encourages his audience to try to focus on what we are accomplishing and to “learn the the art of single-tasking. ”Tugend's position on the topic is easily identifiable in the first paragraph of his report. He opens the essay with the introduction of his topic and immediately follows it with his initial assumption about multitasking stating that “it can place us under a great deal of stress and actually make us less efficient.” He structures his essay in a format that is easy to read and understand by opening it with his position on the topic. It follows the opening with the effects that multitasking has on the quality of tasks performed and includes the harmful effects on people who incorporate this method into their daily lives. Finally, he concludes the essay with the suggestion that we train ourselves to focus on a single task at a time. Tugend successfully proves his point by incorporating multiple examples throughout the article that show research conducted by professionals who have studied this topic extensively. His examples range from external impacts (stress, decreased output, etc.) to the internal biological limitations of our prefrontal cortex, which allow us to do a few routine tasks at a time but make it difficult for us to complete more things once they are needed. “require more cognitive processes.” As someone who researches every topic possible before making an inference or opinion on a topic, I agree with the.