what is chunking in thinking? why is chunking important to thinking?how does it make for better problem solving and differentiate between masters and beginners

-- trevor peters (dunstanpeters@hotmail.com), December 09, 2001

Answers

Chunking is a term used (first?) by George Miller to describe the fact that more material can be remembered if it is organized in memory in a meaningful way. For instance, if you had to remember the letters a, r, b, e, and z, you might have some trouble (i.e. it would take up five of the approximately seven "slots" in short term memory). If, on the other hand, you noticed that these letters represent the word "zebra" spelled backwards, they wouldn't be nearly as difficult to remember -- they would effectively be "chunked" into a single item. "Masters" of a certain domain (i.e., chess) are sometimes said to "chunk" better than beginners, which enables them to keep more things in mind at once.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), December 10, 2001.

For an example that you'll undoubtedly be able to relate to, think of how one might study for an upcoming test. Suppose you have 300 bits of information you must know, and overall you have 5 chapters to study. If you are able to "chunk" the bits of information by chapter, you'll be better off in remembering the information. From my experience, practising "chunking" is extremely useful for doing well on tests. Instead of trying to memorize/understand a huge list of information, try to group the information into chunks, and from there, you'll be better able to identify the "chunk" you need given a particular question, and pull out the specific details you need.

-- Daniel J. Denis (dand@yorku.ca), December 13, 2001.