Have you ever heard of chunking? No, not chunky, chunking! Chunking is the process of putting the information you need to know into categories, clusters or hierarchies. By doing this it (in theory) will make it much easier for you to recall all the information you need to remember. This memory technique is quite simple to use and it will quickly transform your ability to remember lots of data and information if used correctly.
Chunking is the process of combining the items you need to remember together into larger groups - typically through groups, categories and hierarchies. Items you can "chunk" include objects, names, dates, numbers, places, events, symbols and so on. The list of what you can possibly chunk is virtually endless.
For example, you could categorize your list by the first letter of the word or sentence you would like to remember (such as E, N, P or Y - any letter is possible), or by the item type (such as what the item is used for, where it is stored, or what it is related to) or even by how the item is applied (such as math or economic equations).
It is important to keep in mind that whatever way you seek to "chunk" the information should be easily remembered by you. You must not use methods that sound good but for whatever reason you are not very familiar with them or find they can be complex to understand or recall. That would completely defeat the purpose of chunking. So how does this work?
Let's start with a simple list of eight items: bread, sausages, strawberries, bananas, basketball, television, soccer, and bean bag. We could chunk them by the letter B - bread, bananas, basketball and bean bag. We could chunk them by sports - basketball and soccer. We could chunk them by food - bread, sausages, strawberries, and bananas and also by non-food - basketball, television, soccer and bean bag. There are also many other ways this list of items could be chunked.
Obviously this chunking list is quite basic but the reason these are useful is because it creates more memory traces that helps you to prompt your memory and find the data you need. In this instance, if you remember just the letters B, S, T and L you may actually remember all 10 items just by remembering the letters. Or if you remember just "living room, sports, fruit and food" you may also easily remember all 10 items. Keep in mind that this is much more effective than just trying to randomly remember 10 items.
You might this method is a little too simple and want an example using numbers. If so then you're in luck. Get ready to remember the following number - 3112196911222006. Simple right? Now repeat it without looking at it. We're you able to go it? Using chunking you will be able to remember this number without any problems. Let's see how.
Firstly we have 3112. If you applied to this number to a date you would get the 31st of December - 3112. Next, 1969 - everyone remembers that this is the year that man first went to the moon. Next comes 11. This is the first number that can't be counted on your fingers or your toes. Next comes 22. Well that's just double 11! Finally, we have 2006 - that's the very same year that Brazil won the world cup of soccer. Pretty simple stuff really!
Chunking has taken what seemed to be a complex number and made it into an easy to recall number. What becomes obvious is that you are actually building memory traces by creating events around the numbers. So you don't have to remember all the numbers individually, you group them together and then just remember the date of New Year's Eve, the year man trudged around on the moon, one too many fingers, double that number, and Brazil wins the Soccer World Cup. 3112 - 1969 -11-22-2206. 3112196911222006. I know, it was much easier than you thought!
Let's not kid ourselves. The technique that we've shown you has been simplified to make it easy for you to understand. But the fact remains that it really works. Chunking works incredibly well and will really assist you by making how to study much easier through memory recall. Try it with your own work or any list you need to remember and watch your recall improve dramatically. Good luck!
Chunking is the process of combining the items you need to remember together into larger groups - typically through groups, categories and hierarchies. Items you can "chunk" include objects, names, dates, numbers, places, events, symbols and so on. The list of what you can possibly chunk is virtually endless.
For example, you could categorize your list by the first letter of the word or sentence you would like to remember (such as E, N, P or Y - any letter is possible), or by the item type (such as what the item is used for, where it is stored, or what it is related to) or even by how the item is applied (such as math or economic equations).
It is important to keep in mind that whatever way you seek to "chunk" the information should be easily remembered by you. You must not use methods that sound good but for whatever reason you are not very familiar with them or find they can be complex to understand or recall. That would completely defeat the purpose of chunking. So how does this work?
Let's start with a simple list of eight items: bread, sausages, strawberries, bananas, basketball, television, soccer, and bean bag. We could chunk them by the letter B - bread, bananas, basketball and bean bag. We could chunk them by sports - basketball and soccer. We could chunk them by food - bread, sausages, strawberries, and bananas and also by non-food - basketball, television, soccer and bean bag. There are also many other ways this list of items could be chunked.
Obviously this chunking list is quite basic but the reason these are useful is because it creates more memory traces that helps you to prompt your memory and find the data you need. In this instance, if you remember just the letters B, S, T and L you may actually remember all 10 items just by remembering the letters. Or if you remember just "living room, sports, fruit and food" you may also easily remember all 10 items. Keep in mind that this is much more effective than just trying to randomly remember 10 items.
You might this method is a little too simple and want an example using numbers. If so then you're in luck. Get ready to remember the following number - 3112196911222006. Simple right? Now repeat it without looking at it. We're you able to go it? Using chunking you will be able to remember this number without any problems. Let's see how.
Firstly we have 3112. If you applied to this number to a date you would get the 31st of December - 3112. Next, 1969 - everyone remembers that this is the year that man first went to the moon. Next comes 11. This is the first number that can't be counted on your fingers or your toes. Next comes 22. Well that's just double 11! Finally, we have 2006 - that's the very same year that Brazil won the world cup of soccer. Pretty simple stuff really!
Chunking has taken what seemed to be a complex number and made it into an easy to recall number. What becomes obvious is that you are actually building memory traces by creating events around the numbers. So you don't have to remember all the numbers individually, you group them together and then just remember the date of New Year's Eve, the year man trudged around on the moon, one too many fingers, double that number, and Brazil wins the Soccer World Cup. 3112 - 1969 -11-22-2206. 3112196911222006. I know, it was much easier than you thought!
Let's not kid ourselves. The technique that we've shown you has been simplified to make it easy for you to understand. But the fact remains that it really works. Chunking works incredibly well and will really assist you by making how to study much easier through memory recall. Try it with your own work or any list you need to remember and watch your recall improve dramatically. Good luck!
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