Serial And Parallel Processing

Humans are processors of information and can process things in different ways. Serial and parallel processing are two ways. Serial is the way the mind processes things sequentially, one thing at a time. For example, when reading a book, you cannot process all the words in one glance or even reading the sentences of this forum. Instead, you have read in a sequence, from left to right and process each word. Parallel is when the mind processes things simultaneously, more than one thing at a time (Schmidt & Lee, 2011, pg75). For example, let us say you are driving your car down the street. Your brain is constantly taking in information through your senses like what you see, hear, feel and/or smell. This all happens at the same time; if you see
Bluetooth is also a distraction because you wear an ear piece and can receive phone calls by one touch of a button on the ear piece. This alone takes the drivers attention off the road and into the cell phone. Cell phones period are a distractor. American society would be much safer if cell phones were banned while driving. Cell phones may be convenient but there's one place they seem to do more harm than good and that is on the road. Psychological research is showing that when drivers use cell phones, whether hand-held or hands free, their attention to the road drops and driving skills become even worse than if they had too much to drink(Driven to distraction, 2006). Epidemiological research has found that cellphone use is associated with a four-fold increase in the odds of getting into an accident, a risk comparable to that of driving with blood alcohol at the legal limit (Driven to distraction, 2006). Some of the benefits of cell phone use are during roadside emergencies, car trouble, obtain personal information, or even using it as a GPS. However, it may lead to running red lights, drifting across lanes, or worse, causing