The magic number "7 plus or minus 2" theory was conducted in laboratory settings. As discussed in class, in a real-world setting, your memory is:

A. 7 plus or minus 2
B. 2 plus or minus 1
C. 4 plus or minus 1
D. 5 plus or minus 2

Answer :

This is more aligned with the theory of (C) 4 plus or minus 1 rather than Miller's original 7 plus or minus 2 concept.

In 1956, George Miller proposed the concept of the magic number "7 plus or minus 2" based on short-term memory capacity, suggesting that people could recall between 5 to 9 items. However, more contemporary research, such as Cowan's study in 2010, suggests that the working memory capacity is closer to "4 plus or minus 1".

Therefore, in real-world settings, most people can hold about 4 items in their working memory.