Chunking as a way of learning (Essay Sample)

 
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Music
Chunking as a way of learning
Chunking is the process of incorporating small bits of information into chunks that are easy to memories. This technique is well known for enhancing memory recall and it can be very essential to students who are considered to be slow learners. Their learning materials and lectures should contain lessons in an easily memorable form. Chunking is based on the supposition that our memory can get easily overloaded by too many details and information, that is why there is the need to break them up into smaller meaningful potions. This concept was introduced by George A. Miller, a Harvard psychologist in the 1950s.  He put it forward in his renowned journal article "The Magical Number Seven, plus or Minus Two”.  Here, Miller made observations of the human short term memory. He carried a research on the number of things we can recall some minutes after being told. The answer he derived led to the title "The Magical Number Seven, plus or Minus Two" (Sousa 109).
For easy learning, educational pioneers should insist on the chunking of learning curriculum. Chunking is considered a learned skill and can be taught to people who are slow learners. There are various types of chunking. During the incorporation or revision of a curriculum, topics that are compatible with the following chunking types should be grouped together for easy teaching. This is in disregard of where they come out in the basic text. The following are the different types of chunking:
Pattern Chunking: this type of chunking is easily accomplished every time patterns are found in the material to be reserved. First, the topics to be taught in the core curriculum are evaluated before a determination is made on the instructional steps. Take keen note on patterns between topics. Some examples of chunking include bit-by-bit procedures like copying files from a computer to hard, floppy and flash disks or tying a shoe lace. To improve comprehension of topics mentally, items are grouped in a series and rehearsed until it’s reduced to a single or a few chunks. In addition, constant practice of the process further enhances the creation of chunks (Souza 109).
Categorical Chunking: This is a more complicated process of chunking; the curriculum series is made so as to enable the person being taught to establish the types of categories to aid in the classification of more great amounts of information. Learners look at the information in search of a criterion that will simplify the grouping of complicated material into arrays (Souza 110).
Savantism
            This is a neurological condition in which people experiencing severe mental disability have great and astonishing aptitudes in a certain area of expertise, commonly in memorization, mathematics, lightening calculation, musical instrumentation or calendar calculating. Most psychiatrists believe that all savants have eidetic recall for one very specific narrow topic. This condition is highly linked to autism with more than 50% of individuals suffering from autism also suffering from savantism (Haycock 298). This mental illness is very rare syndrome whose cause is still a phenomenon unknown to many including the medical professionals. However, a possible cause of it can be attributed to injury or the central nervous system disease (CNS). The illness is more prominent in males than females. Some of the savant skills include superior calculation, artistic qualities, and knowledge of the calendar, language abilities, calendar knowledge and superior memory skills (Haycock 299).  
One notable person who is suffering from savantism is Derek Paravicini, a renowned pianist who amazed the audience at the TED show with his profound aptitude of the piano. He is thought to have developed the syndrome in childhood but he overcame the challenges that came with the disorder to become a well-known pianist (TED.com). He was born a premature child at just 25 weeks. His blindness is attributed to the oxygen therapy he was in the neonatal ICU. His brain was also affected leading to his current learning disability and autism. He is credited for his absolute pitch which enables him to master and play a piece of music after hearing it only once (Ockelford 187).
He credits his nanny who first gave him his first piano at the age of two. After seeing his ability, his parents referred him to the London school for the blind where he got more chances of advancing his piano skills. Ever since his first open performance in 1989, he has received countless invitations to perform in a lot of events worldwide. On the way, he has achieved a lot of praise and recognitions the most recent one being invited to perform in the Hall of Queen Elizabeth with several other renowned musicians and artists (Ockelford 187-189).
William’s Syndrome
            William’s Syndrome also known as the William’s Beuren syndrome is a rare genetic condition that manifests itself at birth. It was named after two cardiologists by the names of Williams and Beuren. They are both credited with introducing the first descriptions or the syndrome in details.  This illness is believed to be hereditary and It can affect anyone part of the human body. It is characterized by moderate or mild learning problems or intellectual disability, blood vessel and heart complications, unique personality characteristics, and distinctive facial features (Morris et al 4-10).
Young children and infants exhibit a broad forehead, depressed nasal root, temporal narrowing, full lips, small jaw, wide mouth, full cheeks, bulbous nasal tip and many more features. People with this condition experience difficulty dealing with visual-spatial work like assembling puzzles or drawing. However, they perform really well in tasks involving music, rote memorization and spoken language. William Syndrome victims have engaging and outgoing personalities. Furthermore, they also have extreme interest in other people. It is associated with various other disorders like anxiety, phobias and the Attention deficit disorder. Furthermore, people who suffer from this syndrome endure a lot of disturbance in their sleep. In addition, they face behavioral problems in following a nighttime routine, have restless sleep and frequent wakening. (Cassidy and Allanson 909).  
Why we hear in stereo (using two ears)
            The general observation many people when it comes to this particular question is that two ears are meant to make people listen more and converse less. It enables and individual to hear sounds from all directions. It is easier to locate signals with two ears than with a single ear. Stereo audible range enables an individual to pinpoint the source of a sound on the horizontal level. It also enables sound to be heard in a clear and louder way as compared to hearing the same sound using a single ear. In short, two ears enhance the hearing ability of an individual (Newton 289).
            According to Radford, two ears are for giving us directional sense and enable us to estimate the distance between the source of sound and the ears although these measurements are not authorized. For humans, hearing is strongest when they are still young. Their hearing ability diminishes with time. A normal young child iS estimated to hear sounds of between 20 to 20,000 Hz. This reduces with the advancing of a person’s age (93).  
Brain mechanics of categorization
Our brain is at the core of the engine of most of our body functions. The brain constantly deals with a mass movement of information. Most of the emotional and intellectual life is led by movements in our nervous system and brain. A normal human, always utilized only 20 percent of the total capacity of the brain. This figure is not accurate; other claims put the figure between 10 and 33 percent. The domain of knowledge is derived from the development of the domain of being (Radford 51-53).
            In the brain there is the domain of knowledge. In this section of the brain, the domain is programmed and designed in the same cause/effects manner as the computer.  Categorization of information requires the participation of the sensory cortex. Some theories have gone to suggest that human brains use templates...a prototype of containing all the significant features contained in a particular class of objects. From the above information, we can deduce that, categorization is arguably a significant element of the learning process. It is a sequence that enables us to come up with answers as to the grouping of information together. Behavior analysis studies usually place things with the same response together in a class. Categorization dwells less on the cognitive part of puts a lot of emphasis on the responses of the ways of different stimuli occasion. Hence, information that has differing responses in a certain context is part of a cluster of a different stimulus (Radford 51).
Schopenhauer’s Philosophy
Schopenhauer was one of the greatest philosophers in the 19th century. He was among the first to admit that deeply, the universe is a place that is non-rationale. Schopenhauer notes that he was inspired by Kant and Plato. Both claimed that the world is being more open to reason. However, Schopenhauer was always considered to be a thoro...