The magical number 4 in short-term memory¶
Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(1), 87-114.
Cited by¶
2 citations across 2 artifacts.
Each citation links to the sentence it supports in the citing article.
Primes¶
- Chunking
- The group is encoded, stored, and retrieved as a single unit (one entry in working memory, one unit in motor rehearsal, one referent in discussion) rather than as a list of parts; this is the recognition-based retrieval mechanism. Working-memory efficiency.
This sourceReanalyses immediate-memory capacity as ~4 chunks under chunking-controlled conditions.
Supported in partVerified against the work's full text
Cowan backs the chunk-count capacity limit (~4 chunks) behind 'working-memory efficiency', but not the sentence's recognition-based retrieval mechanism.
“A single, central capacity limit averaging about four chunks is implicated along with other, noncapacity-limited sources.”
- The group is encoded, stored, and retrieved as a single unit (one entry in working memory, one unit in motor rehearsal, one referent in discussion) rather than as a list of parts; this is the recognition-based retrieval mechanism. Working-memory efficiency.
Domain-specific¶
- Cognitive Load
- Cognitive load is the working-memory budget — the total mental effort required to process information at a given moment, constrained by working-memory capacity (approximately four chunks per Cowan 2001).
This sourceReanalyzes immediate-memory capacity as ~4 chunks under chunking-controlled conditions.
Supported in partVerified against the publisher's abstract
Cowan 2001 backs the '~4 chunks' capacity clause; it does not define cognitive load or the working-memory budget.
“A single, central capacity limit averaging about four chunks is implicated along with other, noncapacity-limited sources.”
- Cognitive load is the working-memory budget — the total mental effort required to process information at a given moment, constrained by working-memory capacity (approximately four chunks per Cowan 2001).
Verification¶
Does it exist? Confirmed. This work's DOI resolves to a registered record, which fixes its identity. That is all it fixes.
Does it back the claim? Read against the text for 2 of 2 citations: 2 supported in part. Each verdict is shown under its citation below, with what in the work backs the sentence.
Support is checked per citation rather than per work — the same source can be cited soundly in one article and wrongly in another. Per-citation recording began recently, so a citation with no recorded check is a gap in the record rather than evidence it went unchecked.
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Registry ID ref:d0382398dc73 · see in the full table