The "magic number 7" is a cognitive limit for items held in short-term memory.

Grouping information with familiar frameworks, like phone numbers, boosts memory capacity.

The loci method links familiar places with vivid images to aid in recalling lists.

In a previous post, I suggested a memory exercise based on mentally composing a two-act play and incorporating the items one wishes to memorize.

Some readers objected to the additional requirement of remembering not only the items but also incorporating them into a play, a separate cognitive act not everyone is comfortable with. So here is an equally effective alternative method that does away with the need to mentally compose a new play each time you want to memorize a list of items.

Estimating the Upper Limit of Human Short-Term Memory

But before discussing that method, what would be your estimate of the upper limit of the number of items that can be remembered in a group of people randomly chosen?

In the 1940s, psychologist George Miller discovered a limit while designing a jamming signal capable of disrupting German radio communications. While employed in this important wartime mission, Miller measured how people judged the strength of various stimuli. How loud is it? How bright? How long did it last? The answers to all of these various stimuli turned out to be 7 recognizable states. When he tested his subject’s short-term memory for digits, it also turned out to be 7. Of course, some people did slightly worse (remembering no more than 5 digits) while others could report 9 numbers, with the rare........

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