Our brains are kind of like psychology chunking machines. We are immersed in a massive sea of information, both random and focused, that if there wasn’t this seemingly automatic way of organizing information, things would have become quite chaotic and overwhelming for us.
This is what chunking is all about. In this article, we are going to explore chunking in terms of its psychological applications and benefits. So, let’s get started
Table of Contents
What is Chunking Psychology?
Before we get into the benefits of chunking, let’s see what this term means in clinical terms.
Chunking is a neurophysiological process that happens in short term memory and is used to put together or combine random pieces of information in the form of chunks or blocks for easy retrieval and use of that information.
Psychologists are looking at the basis of this subconscious mechanism that happens way more than you’d think. Chunking psychology is all about learning the causes and long-term effects of chunking and how it relates to the improved cognitive performance of individuals.
How Chunking Psychology Can Help Improve Cognitive Skills
Although the process of chunking is something that happens mostly in an automatic way, if you can become aware of it and use it consciously, it can help improve your cognitive skills. It has shown effective results in the improvement of short-term memory. In fact, this is the primary application of chunking.
Human beings are not so good at noticing. We tend to forget things that don’t seem of value at that moment. Things can get quite bad if you forget something that was quite important like a phone number or a random piece of information that you are entrusted with by someone else.
This is where chunking can give you an edge.
Chunking can act as a memory enhancer, provided that you are doing it consciously. Research has shown that people who use chunking as a conscious habit tend to have better short-term memory. That is because your memory is also like a muscle. The more you train it, the better it gets.
Chunking helps you group together random pieces of information so that you can recall them with better accuracy. Chunking is used in a wide range of psychological treatments like cognitive behavioural therapy and stuff like that. The effects of chunking on cognitive abilities are quite evident. When we chunk together information, it becomes much easier to remember that information in the future.
How to use Chunking in your Daily Routine?
You can incorporate chunking in your everyday life as a memory-enhancing exercise. And there is no limit to how much information you can chunk together. Science doesn’t know the limits to how much it can improve your cognitive skills.
Here is how you can go about using Chunking in your daily routine.
The next time you have to remember a random number, divide it into different groups and see how well you can remember the groups that you have just made. Or, the next time you are making a list of items that you have to get from the market, divide these items into different categories and see how much you can remember when you are actually buying the stuff.
Research shows that people can store up to 5 to 7 units of information in their short-term memory at a time. Chunking can help you increase that number to more than 50. It is about the way you approach the information that you have to chunk together. You can learn more about chunking psychology at BetterHelp.com.
How to Improve your Chunking Skills?
The practice is the only way to improve your chunking skills. Whenever you are sitting idol or engaged in some activity that requires you to remember a series of numbers or items, chunk this information and see how well you can recall it. The more information you can manage, the better your cognitive skills would get.
Chunking has proven benefits when it comes to improving memory. Although it won’t make your memory extremely reliable, you’d still be able to remember much more than an average individual. So, practice chunking your daily life for an improved cognitive performance.