Memory matters

Sourav Banerjee MA,MSW (Shabda Bramha) (8842 Points)

17 October 2011  

The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two


 

Dear friends,

This is one of the very famous as well as controversial topics in Psychology.

As all future top brass ( and the students too )  need to be acquainted with the general knowledge about how our mind works, I hope this series of articles will find acceptance among you – my precious reader.

"The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information" is one of the most highly cited papers in psychology. It was published in 1956 by the cognitive psychologist George A. Miller of Princeton University's Department of Psychology in Psychological Review.

It supposedly argues that the number of objects an average human can hold in working memory is 7 ± 2. This is frequently referred to as Miller's Law.

Recent research has demonstrated that not only is the "law" based on a misinterpretation of Miller's paper, but that the correct number is probably around three or four.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(Edited)

This study is commonly cited as the reason why Bell chose to make telephone numbers exactly 7 digits long.

The 7 digit figure might be a little optimistic. Other research has shown the number to be closer to 4. Even telephone numbers aren't commonly expressed as seven digits. They're expressed as a group of three digits and four digits, with a dash to separate them:

555-1212

And the area code is separated, too:

434-555-1212

A Mobile No.

+91 99998 55559 or +91 999 985 5559

 

That's today's food for thought ( Examinees don't waste your time now:). But please share your thoughts after the Nov. Exam is over).


If any one of you like it friends, I'd most humbly request you to leave a comment that may enrich this topic. Please think about it, do your own little research and share the knowledge so acquired.