Not 7? 4 Is The 'Magic' Number For Memory, Says Psychiatrist

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 - 11:40 in Psychology & Sociology

When it comes to the number of pieces of information the mind can cope with before confusion sets in, the "magic" number is seven, psychologists have long said.  But did phone companies pick that because of the claim or did folk wisdom say it must be seven because that is what phone companies used? In 1956, American psychologist George Miller published a paper, "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two. Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information", in Psychological Review, arguing the mind could cope with seven chunks of information. read more

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