Introduce students to a specific way of helping our short-term memory through the use of chunking.

• Remember as many letters as possible.
• Answer:
– N-F, L-C-G, S-U-S, A-V-C, R-F-B, I
• Chunking:
– NFL, CBS, USA, VCR, FBI

Imagery is at the heart of many memory aids.
Mnemonic techniques use vivid imagery and organizational devices in aiding memory.

Break down complex information into broad concepts and further subdivide them into categories and subcategories.
1. Chunking
2. Hierarchies

Organizing items into a familiar, manageable unit. Try to remember the numbers below.
1-7-7-6-1-4-9-2-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1
If you are well versed with American history, chunk the numbers together and see if you can recall them better. 1776 1492 1812 1941.

Acronyms are another way of chunking information to remember it.
HOMES = H uron, O ntario, M ichigan, E rie, S uperior
ROY G. BIV = R ed, O range, Y ellow, G reen, B lue, I ndigo, V iolet

Events
Sensory
Memory
Encoding
Working
Memory
Encoding
Long-term
Memory
Retrieval
Retrieval

Working memory, the new name for short-term memory, has a limited capacity (7 ± 2) and a short duration (20 seconds).
Sir George Hamilton observed that he could accurately remember up to 7 beans thrown on the floor. If there were more beans, he guessed.

The Magical Number Seven, Plus or
Minus Two: Some Limits on Our
Capacity for Processing Information
(1956).
Ready?
M U T G I K T L R S Y P
You should be able to recall 7 ± 2 letters.
George Miller

M U T G I K T L R S Y P
You should be able to recall 7 ± 2 letters.

The capacity of the working memory may be increased by “ chunking.
”
F-B-I-T-W-A-C-I-A-I-B-M
FBI TWA CIA IBM
4 chunks

Peterson and Peterson (1959) measured the duration of working memory by manipulating rehearsal.
CHJ
MKT
HIJ
547
547
544
541
…
CH??
The duration of the working memory is about
20 sec.