Chunking or Clustering

Chunking or Clustering is a way to break up or divide up large amounts of information into smaller pieces that are "digestible" or easier to remember. Our "working memory" or short-term memory only holds seven to nine items of information at a time; it can be likened to a table that can only accommodate so many items before one falls off. If these items are clumps or clusters of information, then more information can be packed into a cluster and moved to long-term memory.

For example, the alphabet can be chunked in several ways:

ABCD EFG HIJK LMNOP QRS TUV WXYZ

ABC DEF GHI JKL MNO PQR STU VW XYZ

If you work on memorizing the alphabet backwards, you will soon be aware of how helpful chunking can be. Here is the alphabet backwards as well as two ways (more are possible) to arrange the alphabet backwards in chunks. Which do you prefer? See how many times you need to practice memorizing this to remember it. At some point in your memorization process, try to memorize each chunk as one idea, not three or four separate letters. After you memorize the entire alphabet, you can work on improving your time -- how fast you it takes you to say the alphabet backwards.

Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J H I G F E D C B A

Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J H I G F E D C B A

Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J H I G F E D C B A

Now let's see what helps in memorizing the first sixteen presidents, George Washington to Abraham Lincoln.

1. George Washington, 1789-1797

2. John Adams, 1797-1801

3. Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809

4. James Madison, 1809-1817

5. James Monroe, 1817-1825

6. John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829

7. Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837

8. Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841

9. William Henry Harrison, 1841

10. John Tyler, 1841-1845

11. James Polk, 1845-1849

12. Zachary Taylor, 1849-1850

13. Millard Fillmore, 1850-1853

14. Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857

15. James Buchanan, 1857-1861

16. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865

This straight, unchunked list might seem a bit formidable as something to memorize.

First, your question: why are we doing this?

Answer: Although it might seem somewhat old-fashioned, see if having a skeleton or scaffold for adding information helps you learn and retain details and see relationships and connections more easily. Try these websites for more information: Wikipedia: Lists of the Presidents of the United States and White House.gov: About the Presidents

Since 4 x 4 = 16 (really?), let's try this in groups of four. Experiment memorizing them in this way. Does clumping them up in groups of four help or is it just as easy to memorizing them in the list above? At some point during your memorization session, try saying the four last names in each group fast, almost as if they are one word. This will help your mind perceive them as one clump. (When doing this, you could call John Quincy Adams "Quincy Adams" to keep it fast.)

Another method to help memorize them is with mnenomics, or creating a silly statement that is memorable and can be linked back to the actual names. Try this website for suggestions along these lines.