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Subject:Re: 7 plus or minus 2 From:Peter Gold <pgold -at- NETCOM -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 28 Jul 1997 14:36:46 -0700
I think this originated with Jean Piaget the Swiss (or French?) psychologist.
Regards,
Peter Gold
pgold -at- netcom -dot- com
On Mon, 28 Jul 1997 geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA wrote:
> I've seen several mentions of George Miller's "7 plus or
> minus 2 rule" to justify chunking information into 5-9
> pieces, but this leads me to ask one crucial question that
> I've never seen answered: has anyone actually tested
> Miller's research to confirm that it applies in the context
> of technical writing? I have not doubt that his underlying
> principle is sound (i.e., that there's a limit on
> short-term memory), but I haven't seen anything that says
> it is 7 plus or minus 2. I haven't tried a literature
> search, as I lack the resources to do so, so I was
> wondering whether any of our academic colleagues might have
> the answer.
>
> I've been slowly working through Miller's original article*
> as time permits, an enlightening experience that I
> recommend to all students of science who are content to
> read only third-party references to the original article,
> and it seems to me that one of Miller's conclusions bears
> repeating: "And finally, what about the magical number
> seven?... For the present, I propose to withhold judgment.
> Perhaps there is something deep and profound behind all
> these sevens, something just calling out for us to discover
> it. But I suspect that it is only a pernicious, Pythagorean
> coincidence."
>
> *Miller, G.A. The magical number seven, plus or minus two:
> some limits on our capacity for processing information. The
> Psychological Review 63(2):81-97.
>
> --Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
> Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
>
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