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If the magical number is 4, how does one account for operations within working memory?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2001

Juan Pascual-Leone
Juan Pascual-Leone
Affiliation:
York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canadajuanpl@yorku.ca www.yorku.ca/dept/psych/people/faculty/pasleone.htm
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Abstract

Cowan fails to obtain a magical number of 7 because his analysis is faulty. This is revealed by an alternative analysis of Cowan's own tasks. The analysis assumes a number 7 for adults, and neoPiagetian mental- capacity values for children. Data patterns and proportions of success (reported in Cowan's Figs. 2 and 3) are thus quantitatively explained in detail for the first time.

Type
Brief Report
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , February 2001 , pp. 136 - 138
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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