MEMORY (CHUNKING)

Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied

Sciences

PSY 153: Basic Psychological Processes

Dr Akshita Attree

22nd November 2021

By: Joshita Singh

Enrolment No : A1506921081

BA(hons) Applied Psychology

Title of Experiment- Memory (chunking)

Aim: To study the impact of chunking on

immediate recall of a list of numbers.

Introduction

What is memory? - memory refers to

retaining and recalling information over a
period of time, depending upon the nature of
cognitive task you are required to perform.
Example-Techniques. of addition and
subtraction which we learnt during our early
schooling years.
Memory consists of three independent.,
though interrelated stages- Encoding, storage
and retrieval.

Stage model of memory:

Sensory memory- Sensory memory holds a
quick flash of information from our sensory
organs, so fast and short-lived that most of it
doesn't make it to our conscious awareness
unless we focus our attention on it.
Short term memory-information that enters.
The second memory store is called short term
memory, which holds small amount of
information for a brief period of time [usually
for 30 seconds or less.] Primary memory
which is now referred to as short term
memory (STM) is temporary and transient
(Andrade & May, 2004, p. 59)
Example- ability to hold phone numbers in
our head until we write it down.
Long term memory- materials that survive
the capacity and duration limitations of the
short term memory finally enter the long
term memory. It is a permanent storehouse of
all information.
Example- That maybe as recent as what you
had for breakfast yesterday to how you
celebrated your 6th birthday.
Working memory (WM):is a short-term
memory system, the capacity of WM is much
smaller. WM refers to both structures and
processes used for storing and manipulating
information (Kail and Hall (2001). It operates
like a sketchpad or desktop in the sense that
it allows a person to comprehend, retrieve,
and manipulate information ( American
Psychological Association, November 2013).
WM is “a system consisting (a) a store in the
form of long-term memory traces active
above threshold, (b) processes for achieving
and manipulating that activation, and (c)
controlled attention” (Engle, Kane, and
Tuholski (1999)

Methods to enhance/improve memory-

There are some strategies for improving
memory called “mnemonics.” to help you
improve your memory.
Mnemonics using images: It helps you create
vivid and interacting images of an around the
material wish to remember.
The Keyword Method: In this method and
English Word. That sounds similar to the
word of foreign language is identified.
Example: Remember the Spanish word for
Duck Which is “pato” you may choose the
word “pot” as the keyword and then evoke
images of keyword and the target word
(Spanish word).

The method of Loci: Helps in remembering

items in serial order.
Example- remember bread, eggs, tomatoes
and soup on your way to the market., may
visualise a loaf of bread and eggs placed in
your kitchen., kept on a table and soap in a
bathroom. When you enter the market, all you
need to do is to take a mental walk along the
route of a kitchen to bedroom. Recalling all
the items of your shopping listener sequence.
 Mnemonics using Organization: to imposing
certain order on the material you want to
remember.

Chunking : Several small units are combined to

form large chunks. For creating chunks it is
important to discover some organization
principles, which can link smaller units.
Chunking allows complex information to be
handled in a simple
form.

First letter technique: For this technique you

need to pick up the first letter of each word you
want to remember and arrange them to form
another word or a sentence.
Example: colours offer rainbow (VIBGYOR- that
stands for Violet, indigo, blue ,green, yellow ,
orange.

Chunking as a strategy to improve memory:

First Letters ( Acronym) : A popular way to use
chunking for improved memory is by taking the
first letters of a set of words you want to learn,
and making another word from those letters: an
“acronym”.
Example- the Great Lakes of North America, you
may have taken the first letters of each lake –
Huron
Ontario
Michigan
Erie
Superior
and spelt the word “HOMES”.

Made up phrases (acrostics): An “acrostic” is a

bit like an acronym in that it takes the first
letters of the words you’re trying to remember,
but rather than make a single word from the
first letters, you assign each letter a new word
to make a memorable phrase.
Example- For the Great Lakes, rather than
“homes” (an acronym), you could make a
phrase from the first letters, like
“Hovering On My Extreme Surfboard”.
Chunking to learn related numbers: This works
a treat for dates in history, for example,
provided you’re reasonably comfortable with
basic arithmetic.
Example- if you have to remember number-
192219292001, then we can look for patters
that are: 1922- USSR came into existence.
1929-beginning of the Great Depression.
2001- 9/11 attack on world trade centre
 Review of Literature

Andrade & May (2004) have stated that

memory can be classified in different ways. In
1980, William James described two types of
memory: primary and secondary. Primary
memory refers to the “memory for events that
have just happened”. Primary memory which is
now referred to as short-term memory (STM) is
temporary and transient. On the other hand,
secondary memory refers to the “memory that
happened some time ago” (ibid.) secondary
memory is permanent and long-lasting and it is
now referred to as long-term memory (LTM).

Engle, Kane, and Tuholski (1999) as cited in

Kail and Hall (2001) argues that WM is “a
system consisting (a) a store in the form of
long-term memory traces active above the
threshold, (b)processes for achieving and
manipulating that activation, and (c) controlled
attention” ( ibid.). Thus , “STM is a
subcomponent of WM” ( ibid.) and to formulize
it Kail and Hall (2001) propose “WM = STM +
attention” ( ibid.). To the researcher; however,
a better formula would be WM =storage +
manipulation.

Miller (1959) published his recent work in

perception, learning, and cognition has
uncovered substantial evidence for a unifying
information-processing mechanism, known as
chunking. Such a mechanism was initially
proposed by De Groot (1,2 ), based on studies
of problem-solving, and by Miller (3) , based on
studies of perception and memory. Miller’s key
contribution was to propose an information
measure for cognitive systems based upon the
concept of a ‘chunk’, where each chunk collects
a number of pieces of information from the
environment into a single unit.

Argamon-Engelson (1999) cited that chunking

is the process of recoding information for
storage, as it applies to mental processes,
usually referring to the grouping or splitting of
information for short term memory. The term
itself was defined in George A. Miller’s “The
Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two :
Some Limits on our Capacity for Processing
Information.”
Chunking is a component of information theory;
in fact, it is at the very root of it. Chunking
allows complex information to be handled in a
simple form. This technique is so essential to
information handling that it has inspired some
data structures in computer science, including
the TCP/IP packet structure and some language
processing structures in artificial intelligence.

James (1890) the most influential model of

working memory in the tradition of James is the
eponymous working-memory model of
Baddeley and Hitch (1974; Baddeley
1986,2007), which draws heavily on research
using digit span and related measurement
techniques. The model proposes separated
storage systems for verbal and visuospatial
information(the phonological loop and the
visuospatial sketch pad) over-seen by a control
structure (the central executive).
Hypothesis: Hypothesis of the practical is the
number of trials taken for the perfect recall of
chunked list of digits, will be less as compared
to digits presented without chunking.

Methodology:
Subject Preliminaries:
Name : XYZ
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Education: College Student
Marital Status: Single

Design: Experimental design was used for this

practical This required using the same
participants for each condition – immediate
recall of chunked numbers and those
presented without chunking. This allowed the
responses from an individual on both
conditions to be compared. The subjects were
presented the number lists alternatively-
beginning with non-chunked (A) and then
chunked (B) and henceforth. The number of
digits was increased in subsequent trials from
five up to twelve and trials were recorded for
each condition, with the maximum number of
trials fixed at ten.

Materials Required: One set of chunked and

non-chunked lists of digits, plain sheet, pen

Variables:
Independent Variable: Presentation , these
are the variables which can be
manipulated/changed.
Dependent Variable: Average trials for correct
recall, these are the variables which cant be
changed.

Rapport formation: The subject was called

inside the room and was asked to sit
comfortably. The lighting and warmth of the
room was checked, and a small conversation
was held. The subject was made comfortable,
and he was asked to do breathing exercises in
order to clam him down so that he is not
nervous. The subject was assured about the
confidentiality of the result of the experiment.

Instructions:
‘I will read aloud a list of digits to you. You are
required to recall back the digits to me in the
same order of presentation. Be loud and clear
with your recall. The trials will continue till
you correctly recall all the items of the list in
the order of their presentation. If you have
any query regarding the experiment you can
ask me without any hesitation.’

Precautions:
Before the conduction of the experiment, it
was ensured that the lighting facility in the
lab was proper. Tasks were presented in a
proper manner to avoid the chance of being
fatigued and repetitiveness. It was made sure
that there was no background noise to avoid
unwanted distraction.
Procedure:
First of all, the participant was read out the
digits without chunking. Then he was asked
to recall those items correctly in the order of
their presentation. The recalls were recorded
on the data sheet with the symbols of right
and wrong responses. The trials continued till
the subject correctly recalled all the digits
read out in the order of their presentation.
After that the participants was read out a list
of digits in chunked form and he was asked to
recall digits presented to him. In this way the
process of demonstration of items and their
recalls continued till the subject correctly
recalled all the digits in the string. At the end,
an introspective report of the subject was
recorded.

Introspective Report:
“The questions asked by Joshita were indeed
very challenging...I was able to remember and
answer the questions asked initially, but
eventually they got difficult and I started
feeling that maybe I am not performing well
and Joshita was very patient and considerate.”

Observational Report: My client was excited

and nervous, he was able to answer the first
few numbers correctly but as the number
increased, many trials were taken in order to
correctly recall the number. What I observed
was that was client was able to recall the first
digits correctly and had difficulty in recalling
the last digits, and during 10 digits he was
able to remember the middle numbers more
than the first and lasts. When we got to 10
digit numbers he started making chunks
(group of 3) in order to recall the digits in the
non-chunked list.
 Result:
TRIALS
Stimulus 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1A Y
1B Y
2A Y
2B Y
3A Y
3B Y
4A N Y
4B N N Y
5A N N N N N N N N N Y
5B N N N N N N N Y
6A N N N N N N N N N N
6B N N N N N Y
7A N N N N N N N N N N
7B N N N N N N Y
8A N N N N N N N Y
8B N N N N Y

For each condition A and B, calculate average

recall: total number of trails taken divided by
8.
Condition Average Trials
Non-Chunked
(A) 1+1+1+2+10+10+10+8/8=
5.375

Chunked (B) 1+1+1+3+8+6+7+5/8= 4

LIST:
Discussion

The aim of the practical is to study the impact

of chunking on immediate recall of a list of
numbers.
The subject was presented with a list of
chunked and non-chunked list of numbers
which s/he was supposed to recall and the
number of trials were recorded. The subject
was given maximum of 10 trials.
Condition Average Trials
Non-
Chunked 1+1+1+2+10+10+10+8/8=
(A) 5.375

Chunked 1+1+1+3+8+6+7+5/8= 4
(B)
 References used for the practical:
Andrade & May (2004) have stated that
Primary memory refers to the “memory for
events that have just happened . Primary
memory which is now referred to as short term
memory (STM) is temporary and transient.

Kail and Hall (2001) cites Cowan (1988, 1995)

who argues that “WM includes STM as well as
the attentional processes used to keep some
STM context in an activated state” (p.1) and
WM refers to both structures and processes
used for storing and manipulating information

Argamon-Engelson (1999)
have articulated that Chunking allows complex
information to be handled in a simple form.
This technique is so essential to information
handling that it has inspired some data
structures in computer science, including the
TCP/IP packet structure and some language
processing structures in artificial intelligence.

Engle, Kane, and Tuholski (1999) as cited in

Kail and Hall (2001) argues that WM is “a
system consisting (a) a store in the form of
long-term memory traces active above
threshold, (b) processes for achieving and
manipulating that activation, and (c) controlled
attention

Miller’s (1956) key contribution was to propose

an information measure for cognitive systems
based upon the concept of a ‘chunk’, where each
chunk collects a number of pieces of
information from the environment into a single
unit.

Concluding the practical – therefore in the

practical we can observe that the number of
trials taken for the perfect recall of chunked list
of digits, will be less as compared to digits
presented without chunking.
Conclusion: Thus in this practical the
hypothesis is proved true as the recallof
chunked list of digits, will be less as compared
to digits presented without chunking, which
was ‘5.375’ for the non-chunked list and 4 for
the chunked list.

References:

Andrade & May (2004) have stated that

Primary memory refers to the “memory for
events that have just happened . Primary
memory which is now referred to as short term
memory (STM) is temporary and transient.

Kail and Hall (2001) cites Cowan (1988, 1995)

who argues that “WM includes STM as well as
the attentional processes used to keep some
STM context in an activated state” (p.1) and
WM refers to both structures and processes
used for storing and manipulating information

Argamon-Engelson (1999)
have articulated that Chunking allows complex
information to be handled in a simple form.
This technique is so essential to information
handling that it has inspired some data
structures in computer science, including the
TCP/IP packet structure and some language
processing structures in artificial intelligence.

Engle, Kane, and Tuholski (1999) as cited in

Kail and Hall (2001) argues that WM is “a
system consisting (a) a store in the form of
long-term memory traces active above
threshold, (b) processes for achieving and
manipulating that activation, and (c) controlled
attention

Miller’s (1956) key contribution was to propose

an information measure for cognitive systems
based upon the concept of a ‘chunk’, where each
chunk collects a number of pieces of
information from the environment into a single
unit.