IV. Characteristics of working memory
A. Storage capacity of working memory is small: around 7 plus or
minus 2 items. Zip codes, phone numbers, and most passwords
are consistent with 7+/-2 items.
1. Original work was done by George Miller (1956) (Magical
Number 7 +/- 2).
2. E arly studies used a digit-span task (such as asking participants
to remember a list of numbers), but more recent studies
use a task that requires both storage and processing (reading
span, operation span (e.g., performing mathematical calculations)).
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