PERCEPTION IN CHESS

Since De Groot's experiment chess masters' perception has been in the spotlight. And it seems pretty much clear that masters seem to perceive chess positions as chunks of several RELATED pieces.

In this article from 1973 the authors revisit De Groot's experiment trying to lay out a solid base for the chunking theory.

• Perception task: reconstruct a chess position while it remains visible, measuring the number of glances to complete the task and the accuracy of the reconstruction
• Memory task: reconstruct a chess position after a brief exposure to it, using piece placement timing and order to uncover clusters of related pieces and the accuracy of the reconstruction

Once again, the master outperformed amateur and beginner in LEGAL positions. But not in random (NON-legal) positions.

This led to think that memory of positions depends on recognizing familiar configurations of pieces (a.k.a. chunks).

Several hypothesis where used:

• pieces placed after a single glance are part of the same chunk
• pieces placed with time intervals of less than 2 seconds between them are part of the same chunk

Chunking theory states that perception and long term memory are developed all together and thus experts and novices do not perceive the same thing when exposed to the same situation.