[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Chunking of Control: An Unrecognized Aspect of Cognitive Resource Limits

## Details

**Authors** Farooqui et al.

**Year** 2023

**Publisher** Journal of Cognition

**Discipline** Cognitive Science

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.275) 
10.5334/joc.275

## In authors' words

### Abstract

Why do we divide (‘chunk’) long tasks into a series of shorter subtasks? A popular view is that limits in working memory (WM) prevent us from simultaneously maintaining all task relevant information in mind. We therefore chunk the task into smaller units so that we only maintain information in WM that is relevant to the current unit. In contrast to this view, we show that long tasks that are not constrained by WM limits are nonetheless chunked into smaller units. Participants executed long sequences of standalone but demanding trials that were not linked to any WM representation and whose execution was not constrained by how much information could be simultaneously held in WM. Using signs well-known to reflect beginning of new task units, we show that such trial sequences were not executed as a single task unit but were spontaneously chunked and executed as series smaller units. We also found that sequences made of easier trials were executed as longer task units and vice-versa, further suggesting that the length of task executed as one unit may be constrained by cognitive limits other than WM. Cognitive limits are typically seen to constrain how many things can be done simultaneously e.g., how many events can be maintained in WM or attended at the same time. We show a new aspect of these limits that constrains the length of behaviour that can be executed sequentially as a single task-unit.

### What they set out to do (purpose)

To show that cognitive control operates over assembled chunks of task steps rather than individual actions.

### What they found (results)

Behavioral experiments showed cognitive control is organized into chunks — groups of task steps assembled into one control unit — with costs and errors clustering at chunk boundaries rather than individual steps.

## Commentary

### In short

The mind groups individual task steps into a single higher-order control chunk.

### In more detail

If a sequence of individual task steps is executed as a single higher-order unit rather than as separable steps, then the mind has grouped parts into a functional whole. Purpose: To show that cognitive control operates over assembled chunks of task steps rather than individual actions. Finding: Behavioral experiments showed cognitive control is organized into chunks — groups of task steps assembled into one control unit — with costs and errors clustering at chunk boundaries rather than individual steps. [Added 2026-07-30 as new evidence beyond the original 109. DSRP structural basis: S (Containment / Recursive Role): parts (steps) grouped into a whole (chunk) that can nest in larger task structure.]

**Patterns it shows** S

**Added** 2026-07-30

**How to cite this** Farooqui et al. (2023). Chunking of Control: An Unrecognized Aspect of Cognitive Resource Limits. Journal of Cognition.