How the brain sees the world around us and interprets it to serve you is fascinating, to say the very least. Without our complex brains, we would see many objects differently. In this post, we will talk about parallel processing. What is it? How does it affect how we observe the life around us? Why does it matter?
How Does Parallel Processing Work?
Parallel processing details how your brain can process different types of information at once. The processing means that it takes in the information around it and interprets it in a way your brain can understand. For example, when you see an object, your brain processes many details about the object at once. These include:
Color: What color the object is will be something that’s processed. Your brain may notice the shades of color the object has, how the object contrasts against everything else, and more. Some people have color blindness, which prevents them from seeing colors, but our brains process colors just fine for the most part. Certain combinations of colors can remind us of objects or events. If you see red, white, and blue close together, you may think of the United States of America.
Motion: Our brain detects if something is moving, and if so, how fast is it moving. For example, if you see a moving object heading your way, you know that if you get hit by it, it’s going to hurt, so you move out of the way. Motion can draw our eyes to the object, and certain types of motion can make it easier for us to stays focused.
Shape: Our brains process an object’s shape, which makes us realize what the object is. You see a box in a much different shape as you would a shoe, for example. These shapes become quite familiar, and you can usually recognize an object through its shape alone.
Depth: Depth teaches us how far apart two objects are. Depth is important when figuring out the relation between two objects. If something is close to you, it affects how you perceive it than if it was further away.
Parallel processing, therefore, helps us realize all elements of an object and allows us to make a good decision on it. Imagine a baseball flying in the air. First, you may see its shape. The familiar round shape will tell you if it’s a ball. Then, you see the colors. The familiar white and red make you realize it’s a baseball and not another ball. The depth of the ball makes you realize it’s close to you and heading your way. The motion makes you realize it’s fast. These elements allow you to conclude, such as catching the ball when it’s in the right position. It’s a valuable tool we take for granted, and if we didn’t have it, we would be in trouble. We’re already injury-prone enough. The last thing we would want is not to be able to process objects.
You may be surprised to realize that this isn’t the only definition of parallel processing. Here are a few others.
Parallel Processing In Systems And How These Systems Interact
Another definition of parallel processing has to do with how systems are interconnected and interact with each other. We know about many systems that work together to function. Look at our branches of government, for example. It may begin with funding and then be connected to the organization, connected to the organization’s staff, which is finely interwoven with the clients themselves. All elements work together in harmony to make the organization.
This way of interpreting an organization gives leaders and other people involved in the organization to look at the big picture and take approaches outside of the norm.
When these systems have a relation, they may end up acting the same. This is parallel processing. In psychology, a client will tell the service workers about the trauma they are experiencing. They tell this to the service providers, who themselves have their problems. These staff members work for organizations that are always under pressure, both from external and internal forces. This affects how an organization may function, and it can cause drama. All these processes can help or hurt an organization. If everything in the organization is stressed, this can cause trouble.
For example, a troubled client asks help from a troubled staff member, and due to the staff member’s problems, they don’t provide the adequate help they need. This damages the client’s relationship with them and makes it difficult to have a conversation. This makes the organization feel pressured, which may affect its funding and how they behave. Good team leaders may become more hostile, making the staff feel worse and hurt the chain below. When a parallel process is working great, it works great. When it haves problems, as mentioned, it can be difficult for the organization to survive.
In a good psychology field, the study of parallel processing in this context needs to be had. A good psychologist should go above and beyond to help the client and not let their personal life get in the way. A therapist who doesn’t do this may damage their reputation. This can be resolved by having the therapist or staff member have therapy of their own. You can’t help someone if you can’t be helped.
This is yet another definition of parallel processing. Are there any more?
Parallel Processing In Psychology – How Does It Apply?
Now, let’s look at how it’s applied in AP psychology. In AP Psychology, parallel processing is a replication of a counseling session when under supervision. The therapist will be the client, and the supervisor is the therapist.
This can help a therapist who feels like they aren’t going anywhere with the client. Both sides are becoming frustrated due to the lack of progress. The goal is for the supervisor to give a new perspective in the form of a reenactment, which helps the counselor find new solutions to serve their client.
This may work in the form of transference, where the counselor subconsciously transfers their behaviors onto the client. This may happen due to empathy reasons or because the counselor has problems of their own.
Transference can also occur with the supervisor, who transfers their thoughts back to the client.
Benefits Of Trying and Exploring Parallel Processing – How Does It Work?
Problems With Parallel Processing
With that said, parallel processing can have its disadvantages as well, such as:
To make parallel processing as effective as possible, here are a few ways that can be done.
No matter what you process, it’s worth speaking to a therapist if you’re having any problems. With parallel processing, you can progress in your therapy sessions and move on to a better life where you’re in control.
What is an example of parallel like processing in psychology?
In cognitive psychology, parallel processing refers to the client–therapist role and how certain topics reoccur. This can lead to a lack of progress, whether due to the therapist’s influences, the client’s resistance, or both. What’s happening is that both parties bring together their ideologies and systems, disrupting the therapeutic environment. Patients may also be struggling to separate what they perceive as linked systems or situations (e.g., they cannot process their grief over a recent job loss separately from losing a loved one).
Overall, parallel processing is the ability and result of human interaction and how we link up various systems — for better or worse.
What are parallel like processing and its types?
According to the APA Dictionary, parallel processing includes information processing, in which someone is engaged in multiple cognitive activities (e.g., driving while listening to music), distributed processing, in which someone processes information in a series (e.g., reading), and parallel distributed processing, in which information is represented in symbols that are activated in patterns (e.g., how someone responds when they interact with their spouse).
Is Parallel Processing automatic?
Yes, parallel processing can automatically parse and categorize stimuli — things we see, hear, touch, etc. We know from cognitive psychology research that the human brain concurrently processes multiple data streams and incorporates them into known systems and symbols. However, these systems can interact and repeat, leading to negative thought patterns or associations between certain memories and emotional states.
Why is parallel processing important in psychology?
In addition to understanding how patients perceive data and perform information processing, therapists must also be cognizant of their own biases and influences. Parallel processing can bring those ideas into the therapy, causing duplication or reflection of certain ideas or obscuring the patient’s ability to parse out their memories and thought patterns. However, this is sometimes a good thing. Parallel processing can hold up a mirror to patients and help them gain greater insight into their issues.
What is an example of sequential processing?
In a therapeutic context, a patient who is asked to walk through a hypothetical scenario or engage with memory performs sequential information processing. Often, deliberately ordering their ideas and breaking them out from a web of other assumptions and biases can help someone process the memory more effectively.
Most cognitive psychology research finds that humans have a limited ability to handle multiple tasks deliberately. We perform better when we do serial processing. However, our brains often link up to information, leading to harmful associations (e.g., extreme fear when preparing for a public speaking engagement).
What are the key elements of parallel processing?
In computers, parallel information processing depends on three elements: a system, a means of ordering and synchronizing activities, and a place to store information. Think of an operating system, a file manager, and a hard drive. Parallel models are those in which multiple processes happen concurrently and produce a larger function.
According to cognitive psychology, our brains are similar to computers in this way. Parallel processing is the ability to process stimuli, pair them up with thoughts, and make memories. In mental illness, parallel processing can lead to problematic linkages, such as the exaggerated fear response in PTSD or getting an anxious thought “stuck in a loop” in OCD.
What is parallel processing and its advantages?
In psychology, parallel processing refers to several things: a cognitive phenomenon of information processing, a situation in which the client-therapist becomes disrupted by external influences, and a deliberate technique in which the therapist processes their own emotions to benefit the client, and vice versa. According to cognitive psychology, the latter can help patients who are resistant to traditional techniques or for whom a clinical, symptom-oriented approach may not make sense. Here, empathy is essential to cultivating a trusting, empowering patient–psychologist relationship.
What are the different levels?
Parallel processing includes multiple information processing levels: basic visual/auditory stimuli (e.g., colors, sounds), verbal and textual information, and symbolic/emotional patterns. We can perceive multiple bits of information at once, which is the basis of many of our mental associations (such as perceiving the color red to mean anger). Cognitive psychology studies these parallel models as well as the underlying neurological mechanisms.