for Teachers for Schools for Enterprise
for Teachers for Schools for Enterprise
Course Navigator
Declarative Memory: Definition & ExamplesNext Lesson 

Chunking Method: Definition & Examples

Chapter 6 /  Lesson 18   Transcript
Start Your Free Trial Today

An error occurred trying to load this video.

Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support.

Coming up next: Declarative Memory: Definition & Examples

You're on a roll. Keep up the good work!

Take Quiz Watch Next Lesson
 Replay
Your next lesson will play in 10 seconds
  • 0:25 What is Chunking?
  • 1:15 Everyday Examples of Chunking
  • 2:25 Remembering Letters
  • 4:10 Lesson Summary
Add to Add to Add to

Want to watch this again later?

Log in or sign up to add this lesson to a Custom Course.

Login or Sign up

Timeline
Autoplay
Autoplay

Recommended Lessons and Courses for You

Lesson Transcript
Instructor: Chris Clause
Following completion of this lesson, you will be able to define the term chunking in the context of short-term memory. After reading this lesson, you will have an opportunity to test your knowledge with a short quiz.

What is Chunking?

Look at this sequence of numbers: 2, 4, 7, 8, 6, 5, 9, 0, 8, 7.

Now close your eyes and repeat them out loud. How many did you remember? Did you get them all right? If you are like most people, you probably were not able to remember those 10 random numbers after only looking at them for a second or two. Remembering 10 digits is not impossible, however. Actually, most of us do it all the time.

So, how can our brain make the transition from a string of 10 random digits to something that we can repeat back with ease? Sometimes, without even realizing it, we use a short-term memory strategy called chunking.

Chunking is one way to make remembering relatively lengthy strings of information a little bit easier. It is particularly useful when we only need to remember something for a short period of time. As its name implies, chunking involves taking long strings of information, like numbers or letters, and grouping (or chunking) them into smaller, more manageable bits of information. So, if you broke that 10 digit string down into smaller chunks, you would only have to remember 2 groups of 3 digits and one group of 4 digits. This method is much easier than remembering a long string of 10 digits.

Everyday Examples of Chunking

Let's look at a couple of examples that demonstrate how chunking can be used in everyday scenarios to improve our short-term memory.

Let's say that your parents just got a new home alarm system. They are out of town and you're house-sitting for the weekend. Your dad forgot to give you the code to disarm the alarm system before they left. You are driving on your way to their house when your dad calls you to give you the code. You are almost to the house, you have nothing to write on, and - wouldn't you know it - right after he finishes giving you the code (6527852389), your phone dies.

How are you going to remember the code? Well, if you are fortunate to have already read this lesson, you will know how to use the chunking method. So, as your dad was reciting the code, you were mentally grouping the long strings of digits into smaller, easier to remember chunks of information. 652, 785, 2389 is much easier to remember. Within a few seconds, you're in the house without any problems. Good thing you knew about chunking, huh?

Remembering Letters

As we have seen, chunking is helpful when it comes to remembering long strings of numbers, but it can also be a useful strategy when it comes to letters. For example, most people really appreciate it when someone whom they have met maybe only one time remembers their name. Great politicians and successful businessmen and businesswomen figure this out quickly. So, how do they do it? It's possible that they use chunking.

To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account

Register for a free trial

Are you a student or a teacher?
I am a teacher

Unlock Your Education

See for yourself why 30 million people use Study.com

Become a Study.com member and start learning now.
Become a Member  Back
Description

Earning College Credit

Did you know… We have over 160 college courses that prepare you to earn credit by exam that is accepted by over 1,500 colleges and universities. You can test out of the first two years of college and save thousands off your degree. Anyone can earn credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level.

To learn more, visit our Earning Credit Page

Transferring credit to the school of your choice

Not sure what college you want to attend yet? Study.com has thousands of articles about every imaginable degree, area of study and career path that can help you find the school that's right for you.

Research Schools, Degrees & Careers

Get the unbiased info you need to find the right school.

Browse Articles By Category

Browse an area of study or degree level.

Recommended Articles
You are viewing lesson Lesson 18 in chapter 6 of the course:

 Back To Course

Introduction to Psychology: Homework Help Resource

13 chapters | 238 lessons

Ch 6. Cognition: Homework Help
Ch 7. Motivation and Emotion: Homework...

Chunking Method: Definition & Examples Related Study Materials

Create an account to start this course today
Try it free for 5 days!
Create An Account

Explore our library of over 70,000 lessons

Browse by subject
Support