Magical numbers: the seven-plus-or-minus-two myth

摘要

Ask any specialist of professional communication how many items wencan hold in short-term memory: almost certainly, he or she will answernseven (possibly, seven plus or minus two). Ask that person where thisnanswer comes from: very likely, he or she will refer to an articlenpublished almost fifty years ago in Psychological Review (G.A. Miller,n1956). Equally likely, however, he or she will never have read thisnarticle and will happily go on quoting it out of context. The articlendenounces the seven-plus-or-minus-two myth. It first reviews GeorgenMiller's original paper, placing the limit of seven in a propernperspective and drawing other, possibly more useful lessons from thenresearch presented. Next, it explores the guiding value of integersnbelow seven and proposes other, equally magical, but more pragmaticnlimits for effective professional communication