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multiple units of <7 items does not increase the net usage of memory.
For example, I could remember, with very good reliability, a number
whose composition is in <7 units of <7 each or, an order of magnitude
easier, <5 units of <5. However, the corresponding number multiplied
out is much more difficult to remember. Need an example? Try this.
5680340928512983712598783
Close your eyes. How many of these numbers can you remember?
Can you remember only the last five? What about the middle five?
92983 29123 19293 76956 12840 120394
How about now? Try the same thing.
Supposing you don't believe me (rude!), Miller did an experiment
in the 1950s where people were able to spit back literally 40-digit-long
binary strings without error by using similar chunking methodolo-
gies. This sort of thing is all over the world now. Think about credit
card numbers, Social Security numbers, addresses (particularly if you
live in Japan, where addresses take on a chunked grid-like number
system), software serial numbers, and more. Our brains store infor-
mation like this in a place called working memory, which is slowly but
surely converted to long-term memory.
Returning to our computer metaphor, we also have our processor,
which corresponds to our working memory and fluid intelligence.
Our processing capacity is determined by something called cogni-
tive load theory, as previously discussed, that supposes that there are
limits to how much we can cognitively handle at any given moment.
This area is categorized by our ability to process, solve problems, and
crunch numbers and spatial coordinates. Our processors are sup-
ported by a sound card and a video card, which correspond to our
phonological and visuospatial * processing centers, respectively. These
are responsible for input to our working memory through both sound
and visual/kinetic inputs. As I will discuss in ChapterĀ  6, the brain
handles sound in a special way, so stay tuned. Last but not least,
we have inputs, which are our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and hands.
However, in this topic, we are mostly concerned with our eyes, ears,
and hands. Until the next generation of consoles allows us to taste our
* Also from Baddeley.
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