Final answer:
To remember something well, focusing on one task at a time is crucial due to the risks of encoding failure and the limited capacity of our attention.
Step-by-step explanation:
Memory requires attention. If you want to remember something well, it is best to attend to only one thing at a time because attending to multiple stimuli increases the likelihood of encoding failure, where information fails to enter long-term memory. A focused attention ensures effortful encoding, where we actively engage with the content, enhancing retention. This is especially crucial when dealing with complex or novel tasks that demand significant cognitive resources, as our attention is limited and can be easily overwhelmed, leading to fatigue, stress, or anxiety. Our brain prefers automated shortcuts, known as heuristics, as they help in reducing the cognitive load. However, when learning new material, relying on these heuristics can impede our ability to encode the nuances of the new information, since we are not giving it our full attention. Furthermore, the renowned selective attention test by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris reinforces the notion that our attention can be so focused on one task that we miss other obvious stimuli in our environment.