Abstract
Working memory storage capacity is important because cognitive tasks can be completed only with sufficient ability to hold information as it is processed. The ability to repeat information depends on task demands but can be distinguished from a more constant, underlying mechanism: a central memory store limited to 3 to 5 meaningful items for young adults. I discuss why this central limit is important, how it can be observed, how it differs among individuals, and why it may exist.
Keywords
PsychologyTask (project management)Working memoryCognitive psychologyCognitionLimit (mathematics)Mechanism (biology)Constant (computer programming)False memoryComputer scienceNeuroscienceRecall
Affiliated Institutions
Related Publications
The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity
Miller (1956) summarized evidence that people can remember about seven chunks in short-term memory (STM) tasks. However, that number was meant more as a rough estimate and a rhe...
Making Working Memory Work: A Computational Model of Learning in the Prefrontal Cortex and Basal Ganglia
The prefrontal cortex has long been thought to subserve both working memory (the holding of information online for processing) and executive functions (deciding how to manipulat...
Realizing That You Don't Understand: Elementary School Children's Awareness of Inconsistencies
2 factors were proposed to affect awareness of one's comprehension failure: the inferential processing requirements, and the kind of standards against which comprehension is eva...
On the relationship between autobiographical memory and perceptual learning.
Although the majority of research on human memory has concentrated on a person's ability to recall or recognize items as having been presented in a particular situation, the eff...
Age does not increase rate of forgetting over weeks—Neuroanatomical volumes and visual memory across the adult life-span
The aim of the study was to investigate whether age affects visual memory retention across extended time intervals. In addition, we wanted to study how memory capabilities acros...
Publication Info
- Year
- 2010
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 51-57
- Citations
- 1141
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
1141
OpenAlex
Cite This
Nelson Cowan
(2010).
The Magical Mystery Four.
Current Directions in Psychological Science
, 19
(1)
, 51-57.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721409359277
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1177/0963721409359277