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
a stop sign, you have already noticed the shape, color, and letters of the stop sign to include the message behind it, processed it and send the signals to your muscles telling your foot to step on the brake which gives your response-time (RT).
Serial and parallel processing relates to the information model by the way an individual observes and allows the mind to processes the signals that are input into the mind. It can be one or numerous things at a time. The output will then determine the motor response of the individual and it’s RT (Schmidt & Lee, 2011, pg.74-75). As the examples I gave above, it all depends on how complex the situation is for signals to be input into the mind then output in order to get a motor response. If the signals are less complex then the RT will be a lot faster.
I believe cell phone does affect the driving of individuals. “More complex driving environments usually impose greater visual demands on the driver…” (Schmidt & Lee, 2011, pg. 151). If they are not focused of their surrounding then it can cause an accident. It interferes with visual attention process, causing an effect like “inattentional blindness” (Schmidt & Lee, 2011, pg. 151). A cell phone conversation reduces the capacity to perceive changes in visual environment such as traffic patterns. For example, if the traffic light is changing to yellow and the individual is focused on the conversation and not the traffic light it will either make them speed up or break at the traffic light. This can cause a rear collision because of an abruptly stop at a fast speed of travel of the vehicle or run a red light not being aware of the light change of the other traffic lights and colliding with another vehicle which has the right away when their light changed to green. The characteristics of a driver plays a crucial role because of their RT. They might have short tension span and not be able to adjust accordingly if an unforeseen situation presents itself to them on the road, leading to an accident. The nature of the conversation may impair the individual’s information process and allow them to make a bad judgement call on the road. If the conversation is bad news where the output may lead to road rage or once again bad judgement calls. If it’s an emergency the individual may want to speed through to try and reach the destination at a much faster desired time disregarding the all the signs around them.
Laws that ban cell phone use is a great way to avoid accidents and make individuals focus more on the road and not on a conversation that will take away from their focus, even if they are using the phone hands free.
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
accidents.