| Complexity level: | 4 |
| Time required: | Additional time is needed to recruit participants and prepare materials. |
| Safety concerns: |
Overview
Have you ever noticed that most telephone numbers are seven digits long (Excluding the area code)? This is not by accident. Research shows that for most people, seven digits is the most they can remember the first time they hear a phone number. People who can remember more than seven bits of information after a single exposure, do so by providing context to the information. Chunking is one way of providing context to information so that it can more easily be retained and retrieved from memory. In chunking, random information is grouped together, making it easier to remember. Try this for yourself; study the information below for 30 seconds and try to memorize it:
X M C F G L Z O E W Q P V 2 N 8 J 4 U A 4 3
How many symbols did you remember?
Now repeat this exercise using the line below.
XMC FGL ZOE WQP V2N 8J4U A43
Were you able to remember more symbols this time? The second line is an example of chunking. There is no difference between the first and second line other than that information in the second line was grouped into units, making remembering of the information less difficult.
Scientific Terms
Materials
- 10 participants: Consisting five males and five females. Age range can vary.
- Two poster boards
- Marker
- Watch with a second hand.
- Data table (Provided).
Procedure
Pre experiment
Prepare the two poster boards as described in the "background" section. You can use the same symbols or you can choose your own letter and number sequences. The first poster board should show the random symbols; the second poster board will show the symbols "chunked."
Conducting the Experiment
- Test one participant at a time.
- Present the first poster board to the participant.
- Advise the participant that he or she has 30 seconds to memorize the symbols.
- When the 30 seconds are over, remove the poster board from view.
- Ask the participant to repeat back to you, as many symbols as he or she is able to.
- Note the number of correct responses on the data sheet.
- Repeat this procedure with poster board 2.
- When all the participants have been tested, total up the correct responses of all participants for both the first and second poster board.
- Based on the totals, was there improvement in the number of correct responses between the two boards?
Data Sheet |
Poster board 1 (Number of correct responses) |
Poster board 2 (Number of correct responses) |
Participant 1 |
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Participant 2 |
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Participant 3 |
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Participant 4 |
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Participant 5 |
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Participant 6 |
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Participant 7 |
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Participant 8 |
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Participant 9 |
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Participant 10 |
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Totals |