Rida Javed

Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

Submitted By Rida Javed

Submitted To Miss Sana Sher
Course Title Psychology Practicum
Course Code PSY-102
Topic Name Effect Of Chunking on
STM

1
Effect Of Chunking on STM
 Rida Javed
Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

Table Of Contents

ABSTRACT:............................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION:...................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW:........................................................................................5
METHOD:................................................................................................................8
RESULT:...................................................................................................................9
DISCUSSION:........................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION:.....................................................................................................11
REFERNCES:........................................................................................................12

2
Effect Of Chunking on STM
 Rida Javed
Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

ABSTRACT:

The main objective of this experiment was to investigate the effects of chunking on
short term memory.32 female students with in the age range of 18-25 were
conveniently taken from the psychology department of Jinnah University for
Women. In this two types of lists were used list 1 (meaningless words), list 2
(meaningless words), stop watch, 1 blank sheet of paper, pencil and eraser were
used. All participant were instructed that look at the list of words for two minutes,
memorize as many words as you can in this amount of time i.e 2 minutes. Next, get
out a sheet of paper, without looking at the list, give yourself two minutes to write
down as many words from the list as you can from the list of meaningless and
meaningful words. Then the subject was asked to give the introspection report and
she was allowed to go, we tried to understand the chunking effects of the span of
STM (Short term memory). (Ebbinghaus, 1885)

3
Effect Of Chunking on STM
 Rida Javed
Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

INTRODUCTION:
Systems that allow for the preservation of a certain amount of information for a
finite amount of time (seconds) are referred to as short-term memory (STM). The
STM storage also present in other domains, including as the somatosensory
system, however the most commonly studied systems include phonological,
spatial, and visual STM. STM comprises components for both storage and
rehearsal; the latter protects events from being forgotten quickly. STM is
supported by discrete brain regions, with the posterior parietal and premotor
frontal networks of the left hemisphere being more important for phonological
STM and the right hemisphere regions for spatial STM. STM aids in the
acquisition of new knowledge as well as aspects of speech production and
understanding. (Vallar, 2017)
Based on the senses that we use to recall information from our environment, short-
term memory can be divided into a number of categories. These types include
acoustic memory, visual memory, spatial memory, tactile memory, olfactory
memory, and gustatory memory. (Eysenck & Keane, 2020)
TYPES OF SHORT TERM MEMORY:

1. Acoustic Memory: Acoustic memory is the recall of sounds, specifically the

transient storage of those sounds in our brains.
2. Visual Memory: Visual memory is the ability to recall visual stimuli
including colors, shapes, and images that were only fleetingly stored in our
brains.

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Effect Of Chunking on STM
 Rida Javed
Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

3. Spatial Memory: The storing and recall of spatial information, such as the
placements or layout of items within an area, is referred to as spatial
memory.
4. Tactile Memory: Tactile memory is the ability to store and later recall
information about touch or other bodily sensations.
5. Olfactory Memory: Short-term recall of odors is referred to as olfactory
memory, and it is remarkably effective in evoking strong emotions.
6. Gustatory Memory: Taste recall is a function of gustatory memory, which
enables us to recall the many flavors we have tasted.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

RESEARCH NUMBER 1
There are four studies that show a connection between growing memory capacity
and growing operational quickness or efficiency. In the first, it is shown that there
is a linear relationship between word length and word repetition speed. In the
second, word familiarity is used to compare the speed of word repetition between
adults and 6-yearolds. It is demonstrated that, in certain circumstances, their word
spans are identical. The results of a test of M space called "Counting Span" are
then published, with similar results. First, it is shown that there is a linear
relationship between improvements in counting speed and increases in counting
span. In order to compare the speed of counting between adults and 6-year-olds,
adults are made to count in a foreign language. In this case, the counting spans are
no longer distinct. The finding indicates that improvements in overall processing
space do not account for developmental gains in memory span.
Instead, as a result of progress, fundamental processes grow quicker and more
effective. As a result, more room is made available for storage because they
demand less processing space. (Case, 1982)
RESEARCH NUMBER 2

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Effect Of Chunking on STM
 Rida Javed
Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

Miller's (1956) magic number of 7 + 2—or, in many more recent studies, around
4 + 1 "chunks" of information—is renowned for being the upper limit of short-
term memory capacity. However, the meaning of "chunk" in this sense has never
been entirely clear, always referring to a group of elements that are handled as a
single entity. A chunk is a unit in a maximally compressed code, according to our
new, more quantitatively exact definition of chunk that is derived from the idea
of Kolmogorov complexity and compressibility. We show a set of experiments in
which we introduced sequential patterns with varying lengths to control the
compressibility of stimulus sequences. The length of the pattern after
compression—that is, the number of unique sequences it contained—
consistently depended on our individuals' estimated digit span, which measures
raw short-term memory ability. According to numerous recent research, the
genuine limit is believed to be between 3 and 4 separate chunks, which is also
consistent with Miller's infamous magical number. This limit is also comparable
to 7 uncompressed items with a normal compressibility. (Mathy, 2012)
RESEARCH NUMBER 3
Two short-term memory tests looked at the possibility of an age-related increase in
the short-term store's capacity, and an M-operator model was developed to explain
the results. In the first trial, 10-, 12-, and 14-year-olds were given lists of 8, 10, and
12 consonants. The amount of chunking was measured and maintained across
ages, although there was still a distinct developmental improvement in short-term
memory function. The size of the growth was consistent with Pascual-Leone's M-
operator theory's forecast. The relationship between performance level and list
length at each age, as well as the developmental rise, were both taken into
consideration using an M-operator model. In a follow-up study, predictions of
adult performance were put to the test. Combined, the two experiments
demonstrate that a gain in short-term store capacity can account for a significant
portion of the development of short-term memory. (Burtis P. J., 1982)

RESEARCH NUMBER 4

6
Effect Of Chunking on STM
 Rida Javed
Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

According to the chunking hypothesis, information is arranged into progressively

larger chunks after being exposed to stimulus material repeatedly. The chunking
hypothesis' full potential as a learning mechanism and as an explanation of human
behavior has not been fully appreciated by many academics. Although chunking
receives relatively little attention in developmental psychology, it may be the root
cause of several of the postulated mechanisms of development. This study uses
non-word repetition, a task that is a reliable indicator of a child's language
development, to show the chunking theory. A computer simulation of non-word
repetition that activates the chunking mechanism demonstrates that: (1) Task
behavior improves over time when chunking, in line with children's performance;
and (2) In areas like short-term memory capacity and processing speed, chunking
is considered to modify things that are frequently mentioned as mechanisms of
child growth. When examining explanations for developmental data, researchers
should exercise caution because chunking may be able to account for performance
disparities without the requirement for additional mechanisms of development.
(Jones, 2012)

RESEARCH NUMBER 5

When words create recognizable pieces, memory for spoken data improves. But
how does chunking lead to the improvement? The input might be intentionally
recoded into chunks, each of which uses less memory than items not forming part
of a chunk (a type of data compression), or chunking may be based on
redintegration. These are two possible causes. If chunking is accomplished through
redintegration, chunk representations are only present in long-term memory (LTM)
and aid in the reconstruction of short-term memory (STM) traces that have
degraded. When chunks are tiny (2 words), they exhibit a pattern suggestive of
redintegration, whereas larger chunks (3 words), exhibit a pattern consistent with
data, according to 6 trials utilizing 2-alternative forced choice recognition and
instantaneous serial recall. This is consistent with earlier research that indicated
there was a penalty associated with recoding content into STM portions. This
expense appears to outweigh the advantages of recoding words into pieces for
smaller chunks. (Jones.G, 2012)

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Effect Of Chunking on STM
 Rida Javed
Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

METHOD:

Sample:
29 female students within the age range of 18 to 25 what conveniently taken from
the psychology department of Jinnah university for women.
Material:
 List 1 (Meaningless Word)
 List 2 (Meaningful Word)
 Stopwatch
 One blank sheet of paper
 Pencil and erasers

Procedure:
Participants were conveniently approach from the department of psychology
inform concern was taken to ensure willingness and volunteer participation of
students in the experiment. This experiment was conducted in two sessions. In the
first session students were given the list one of meaningless words they were asked
to memories as many words as they can in two minutes. They were then given a
blank sheet of paper and were asked to recall and write as many words as they can
from the list in two minutes without looking at the list. In the second session
participants were given the list two of meaningful words and we're instructed to
memorize as many words as they can in two minutes. They were then given the

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Effect Of Chunking on STM
 Rida Javed
Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

blank sheet of paper were asked to recall and write as many words as they can
from the list in two minutes without looking at the list.

RESULT:

list No. of correct words Total no. of words

recall

1st 4 15
2nd 7 15

This table shows that participant take time to recall the number and the short-term
memory will also be take step to back up the memory and results in.

9
Effect Of Chunking on STM
 Rida Javed
Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

DISCUSSION:
In the result of 1st sheet given to participants (Meaningless words), participants
showed hard recalling the senseless words and weren't able to write many, and
also wrote some words which weren't there in the list. While for the second list,
participants easily wrote down the words, recalling them because they had
meaning to it. (Burtis P. J., 1982)

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Effect Of Chunking on STM
 Rida Javed
Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

CONCLUSION:

The aim of this experiment is to investigate the effect on chunking on short term
memory. The short-term memory had an objective to recruit the memory of the
person and it would perform a significant role by rearranging of the memory. The
chunking of the span of short-term memory is affect and had the great result by
trying again and again.

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Effect Of Chunking on STM
 Rida Javed
Department of Psychology
JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

REFERNCES:

Burtis, P. J. (1982). Capacity increase and chunking in the development of short

term memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 34(3), 387-413.
Case, R. K. (1982). Operational efficiency and the growth of short-term memory
span. Journal of experimental child psychology, 33(3), 386-404.
Ebbinghaus, H. (1885). Forgetting curve Memory A Contribution to Experimental
Psychology.
Eysenck & Keane. (2020). Types of STM.
Jones, G. (2012). Why chunking should be considered as an explanation for
developmental change before short-term memory capacity and
processing speed. Frontiers in psychology, 3, 167.
Mathy, F. &. (2012). What’s magic about magic numbers? Chunking and data
compression in short-term memory. Cognition, 122(3), 346-362.
Vallar, G. (2017). Short-term memory (STM).

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Effect Of Chunking on STM