You Can Only Hold About 7 Items in Working Memory
Miller's Law explains why we struggle to remember long lists and phone numbers.
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The Magic Number Seven
In 1956, psychologist George Miller published his famous paper about the limits of human working memory. We can typically hold 7±2 items in our short-term memory at once.
Why This Matters
This limitation affects everything:
- Phone numbers (why they're broken into chunks)
- Shopping lists
- Learning new information
- Multitasking ability
Chunking Strategy
Your brain can overcome this limit through "chunking"—grouping information into meaningful units. Instead of remembering 10 individual digits, you might remember a phone number as three chunks.
Modern Implications
This is why user interfaces work best with limited options, and why information is most digestible when broken into small pieces.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Individual working memory capacity varies. Some people can hold 5 items, others 9. The average is 7, which is why Miller called it '7 plus or minus 2.'
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