Chunking

Have you ever stopped to think why it’s easier to remember DDBTBWABBH than it is to remember say QWTDFRDST? According to the latest research it’s due to a memory process called ‘chunking’. The theory us that by breaking information into bitesize bits we find things much easier to remember. It seems that it’s not just something that we’re taught to do, it’s something that happens naturally.

“Now, Lisa Feigenson and Justin Halberda from Johns Hopkins University have found that infants just 14 months old can use the same technique, delightfully known as “chunking” to increase the limited scope of their memories. Their work suggests that this technique isn’t something we learn through education or experience - it’s more likely to be a basic part of the way our minds process information.”

“Right from the first year of life, our brains efficiently reorganise information from the world around in a hierarchical way. Four items become two groups of two; six becomes three groups of two, and so on. This restructuring lets us store large amounts of information using a system that has an otherwise limited capacity, and it happens without any training and at an age before we learn to speak.”

Via Not Exactly Rocket Science