Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-09T03:52:01.294Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The magical number 4 = 7: Span theory on capacity limitations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2001

Bruce L. Bachelder
Bruce L. Bachelder
Affiliation:
Psychological and Educational Service, Morganton, NC 28655-3729 [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

According to span theory, a behavioral theory of the magical numbers, Cowan's 4 and Miller's 7 are simply two different points on the same ogive describing the relation between performance and span load, a fundamental task characteristic. Span theory explains the magical numbers in terms of a unitary limited span ability, a mathematical abstraction from that ogive.

Type
Brief Report
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , February 2001 , pp. 116 - 117
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)