Chunking is one of a number of organizational principles to help you more effectively encode information by putting it into a series of smaller packages that are easier to remember. One way to do this is to simply break up the information. In addition, you can further organize it into clusters or hierarchical categories, and when you call up the clusters or categories, you will better remember what you put in them. It’s like putting your CD collection into categories by genre.
Another approach is to combine chunking with using imagery to remember different chunks, as described in Chapter 20, or to combine the chunks into a story or narrative, as described in Chapter 16). Plus you can use rehearsal (Chapter 13) to further reinforce what you have chunked or grouped into categories.
In short, think of chunking and clustering or organizing information into categories as two types of tools that you can use in combination with other tools to reinforce your memory.
In chunking you combine several smaller units—whether they are numbers, names, places, objects, or anything—into larger units. You can take them in the order they are already in or combine them into clusters or categories, sometimes called a hierarchy, according to some organizing principle, such as names beginning with a certain letter, age groups, region of the country, or types of animals. The reason this kind of organization is called a hierarchy is that the group or category you have put individual items into is considered a higher order category. In fact, if you have a number of categories, you can further chunk them into groups and put those in even higher order categories.
You might visualize this hierarchy in a graphic form, such as in the chart below.
Or you can organize the hierarchy into an outline with topics and subtopics. While a graphic is good when you are trying to remember words, phrases, names, objects, and other small bits of information, an outline is good when you are learning concepts or more complex information. In either case, you encode the information in the chunks and organizational structures you have created. Later, when you seek to retrieve the memory, tapping into the category of information you want will help you pull out the information in that category. Think of the process as putting information in a file cabinet and creating files for information and categories for where you want to file information. You don’t have to look through all of the loose papers or files to find what you want; the organizational system you created will help you get there quickly.
As researchers have found in repeated tests, people recall more information when it is grouped into more familiar, meaningful categories than placed into an arbitrary group of information.[1]
Here are some examples of how plain vanilla chunking works. Often you will get numbers given to you that are already chunked up, such as phone numbers, which are usually in three chunks (e.g., 510-123-4569), and bank accounts in two or three chunks (e.g., 423-912-776 or 23455-40544). But sometimes you will get other numbers or number and letter combinations that are just loooong, such as a password or registration number for software that has been assigned to you. While using a memory support (such as a file for important numbers and passwords, as discussed in Chapter 10) may be helpful, since you then don’t have to remember such numbers, there may be times you want to remember them.
For example, you may want to keep the combination for a lock in your memory as well as in a security deposit box for security reasons and convenience; you may need a password when you use a different computer and don’t immediately have access to your password file. While paying careful attention and occasional rehearsal may help implant these numbers and letters in your memory, chunking will make the process far easier.
For example, suppose you have a list of numbers, such as: 1914149219631776189020011942.
Try glancing at it for a minute or two without trying to do any chunking. Then, without looking at the numbers, on a separate piece of paper write down as many numbers as you can in sequence.
Did you find it hard to do? How far did you get? Normally, you will not be able to remember more than four or five numbers.
Now, look back at the numbers and think about how you might chunk them up into bits that are easier to remember. Do you notice anything yet that will help you remember?
If you didn’t already get it, think dates, and break up the numbers accordingly:
1914 1492 1963 1776 1890 2001 1942
Now close the book again, take another minute, try to remember them in sequence, and see how far you get.
Finally, you might further organize the dates chronologically, which will serve as another aid to memory. Try to remember this new list of numbers (I changed the dates, since you will already be primed from the previous test: 1512178918651920194619722003. Again, close the book, take a minute, and see how many you remembered now. Again, compare your results from the first and second tests, and you should see some improvement: 1512 1789 1865 1920 1946 1972 2003.
To make the dates stand out even more, you might combine the dates with visual associates, since it’s easier to remember these. If the date is well known, such as 1865, the beginning of the Civil War, you can combine that with an image of Civil War soldiers in battle. But if it’s just a random date, you might associate it with some image from the general period, such as associating a peasant in the field with 1512.
Here’s a similar experiment to try with letters. See how far you get in remembering the letters in each condition. Don’t look at the next set until you have tested yourself on the first one.
A list: ATLNASACIANBCACLULAX
A chunked list: ATL NASA CIA NBC ACLU LAX
An alphabetized chunked list (again, I have changed the items):
AMA BBC FBI INTEL NYC SONY
Or suppose you just have a list of numbers, letters, or numbers and letters that don’t form a real word when you chunk them. You can still do better by chunking them and trying to remember each group than by trying to remember everything in the list.
For example, try the following sets of letters or numbers without chunking them and see how far you get. As before, study each list for about a minute, close the book, and write down the letters or numbers in sequence on a sheet of paper. (You can also generate your own lists to experiment with by randomly writing down a series of numbers, letters, or numbers and letters. Then proceed as with the lists in the book or swap lists with a friend or associate who is working on developing his or her memory.) I have created lists with 12 to 16 letters or numbers. You can make your own lists longer or shorter than this as you experiment with how much you can remember.
Just Numbers: | 1746039758942875 |
385019843873 |
Letters and Numbers: | 27G89T34097R238W |
G589Y34N893T |
Now try chunking these into groups and see how many you can remember. I’ve suggested one way to chunk these into groups of four letters or numbers, but you can chunk these in other groups—say three or four letters or numbers as you prefer.
Just Letters: | RBYA WPOQ NMIE UYRY |
AURP WUNF GSLF |
Just Numbers: | 1746 0397 5894 2875 |
3850 1984 3873 |
Letters and Numbers: | 27G8 9T34 097R 238W |
G589 Y34N 893T |
You’ve already seen some examples of creating categories and groups in the discussion of how this process works, and you’ve done some simple grouping with letters and numbers. Now I’ll discuss different ways of creating the categories yourself, so you come up with an optimal way of grouping information that works well for you.
Some possible ways of grouping information include basing them on:
To demonstrate the power of creating categories, try the exercises in the following section. First, you will see some lists of randomly organized words or topics. Take a minute or two to remember the items in the first list, close the book, and write down as many items as you can recall. Then, take the words or items in the second list, which is grouped into categories, take a minute to remember the words, and see how many you remember. Generally, you should be able to remember more words in the second list.
Then, apply this creating categories technique whenever you have a list of items to remember—such as a grocery list or names of stores to visit in a shopping center.
You can create your own lists of words and topics to further experiment with this technique. Work with a partner or in a group, where one party comes up with a list of words or topics that are listed randomly or included in categories. Then, the other party has to look at the list for a minute, turn it over, and see how many he or she can recall in a minute or two.
Following are three recall tests with several sets of words. Take a minute to look at the words in each set in turn, look away from the book, and write down as many as you can. The words don’t have to be in a sequence. After you create your list, see how many you can recall under each of the conditions mentioned below.
I have used different but similar words in each set, so your memory from a previous test will not carry over to the next test. You can similarly create lists and categories in working with a partner or group for all of these tests.
Here’s a list of words in no particular order. Remember as many as you can in 1 minute. Then see how many you can recall correctly, and write down your score, 1 point for each.
Cat
Lettuce
Fish
Store
Clock
Parrot
Printer
Box
Monitor
Factory
Nation
Newspaper
Bell
Telephone
Dance
Window
This is one possible way of organizing words into categories.
Animals | Equipment | Shopping | Work |
|---|---|---|---|
Dog | Computer | Grocery | Office |
Turtle | Lamp | Counter | Package |
Eagle | Desk | Cash | Fax |
Bookshelf | Milk | Project | |
Pizza |
As you look at these words, create your own categories to help trigger your memory.
Baseball
Watch
Refrigerator
Teller
Television
Guitar
Football
Fox
Furnace
Tiger
Shoe
Bank
Movie
Piano
Raccoon
Now let’s try two recognition tests. Your task is to pick out from the second list those words that were in the first list, under each of these conditions: (1) when you only see a list of words, (2) when you see the words in a group. Then, compare your results. You should find your ability goes up when you use categories. The process should also help you quickly come up with and remember categories to use in grouping lists of anything you want to learn in the future.
Without using any categories, study List #1 for 1 minute. Next, without looking at the first list, make a checkmark next to each word in List #2 that appeared in List #1. Then, look back at List #1 and compare. Score 1 point for each correct match; also score 1 point for each unchecked word that was not in List #1. Deduct 1 point for every incorrect answer.
List #1 | List #2 |
Cover Up Until Ready For Test | |
Snail | House |
Wire | Mile |
Mouse | Honey |
Baggage | Roof |
Poem | Candle |
Red | Red |
Mirror | Flower |
Oven | Car |
Mile | Turkey |
Jazz | Train |
Bucket | Sink |
Flower | Music |
Car | Cat |
Green | Trick |
Honey | Donkey |
Candle | Poem |
Now test your memory when you have categories for placing the items you want to remember. Afterwards, compare the results with your previous recall results.
List #1 | List #2 | |
Cover Up Until Ready For Test | ||
Animals: | Horse | Chin |
Cow | Compact | |
Snake | Bicycle | |
Parts of the Body: | Chin | Dress |
Eye | Clerk | |
Foot | Bus | |
Types of Vehicles: | Compact | Bull |
Van | Soap | |
Bus | Monster | |
Shopping: | Dress | Cashier |
Curtain | Face | |
Soap | Boss | |
Perfume | Shark | |
Party | Eye | |
Work: | Boss | Tower |
Clerk | Plane |
Now that you’ve seen the power of using categories to remember more, here are some ways you might use categories to remember different types of things.
Create a more organized shopping list, where you categorize everything on your list by the type of product. Then, review these items before you go shopping, and you can better remember what you need to get. You might even organize your list according to the aisles in your grocery store, so you can zoom down the aisles getting what you need. You can do it much faster, since you don’t have to continually look at your list. It’ll all be in your head, and as you go down each aisle, that will trigger what’s in a particular category. (You should probably check your list before you get to the checkout counter, just to be on the safe side.)
Organize a talk or presentation with an outline; then prepare by memorizing the sequence of the main categories of the outline first. Once you have those down solid, work on remembering the items in each category. (You’ll find more tips for how to apply other techniques to better remember what you are going to say or present in Chapter 29.)
Organize the material in a course you are studying into an outline (if you haven’t already been given an outline for the class). Then, as in organizing your own talk or presentation, focus on learning the main categories first, and then use that as a trigger to help you remember what is in each section. After that you can use other techniques like chunking and highlighting keywords to trigger a more detailed memory for different points you want to remember.
Organize products, types of services, or types of activities into categories to help you remember to talk about them—a great aid if you are in sales or teaching. If you have a table of contents or outline that already does this, use it as a guide—but don’t just read it straight through. Learn each of the categories first and then the information within it. Or create your own outline. Then, within each category, prioritize what’s most important to talk about first, and focus on encoding that into your memory first. In effect, you are creating an organizational schema that will facilitate your putting additional memories into that schema.
Organize the business cards of people you meet into categories, such as type of business, to help you in remembering the names of all these people. Then, review these cards by category, and to help you further remember, organize them alphabetically or prioritize those that are most important to remember. Again, the categories form a schema to help you recall the names—plus you can use other memory aids to be discussed in the next few chapters and in Chapter 27 to further flesh out your memory of each person.
So what other types of lists or collections of information do you want to remember? Where appropriate, create categories to help you remember, in addition to any other memory techniques you use.