Constant Capacity in an Immediate Serial-Recall Task: A Logical Sequel to Miller (1956)
Abstract
We assessed a hypothesis that working memory capacity should include a constant number of separate mental units, or chunks (cf. Miller, 1956). Because of the practical difficulty of measuring chunks, this hypothesis has not been tested previously, despite wide attention to Miller's article. We used a training procedure to manipulate the strength of associations between pairs of words to be included in an immediate serial-recall task. Although the amount of training on associations clearly increased the availability of two-item chunks and therefore the number of items correct in list recall, the number of total chunks recalled (singletons plus two-word chunks) appeared to remain approximately constant across association strengths, supporting a hypothesis of constant capacity.
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Developers traditionally build expertise through deliberate practice, pattern recognition, and incremental learning.
“Developers traditionally build expertise through deliberate practice, pattern recognition, and incremental learning -all of which are well established principles from educational psychology [3,8,11,15,35].”
From The Evolution of Information Seeking in Software Development: Understanding the Role and Impact of AI Assistants (2025) · cites this paper as [15]
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The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity
Cowan, N. (2001) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x01003922 · Cited by 6,779 · see citing works
Self-citationAcquisition of a memory skill.
Ericsson, K. A., Chase, W. G., & Faloon, S. (1980) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.7375930 · Cited by 579 · see citing works
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A review of visual memory capacity: Beyond individual items and toward structured representations
Brady, T. F., Konkle, T., & Alvarez, G. A. (2011) · Journal of Vision · doi:10.1167/11.5.4 · Cited by 556 · see citing works
Separating cognitive capacity from knowledge: a new hypothesis
Halford, G. S., Cowan, N., & Andrews, G. (2007) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2007.04.001 · Cited by 324 · see citing works
Self-citationWorking memory training involves learning new skills
Gathercole, S. E., Dunning, D. L., Holmes, J., & Norris, D. (2019) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/j.jml.2018.10.003 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
Al Haque, E., Brown, C., LaToza, T. D., & Johnson, B. (2025) · Proceedings of the 33rd ACM International Conference on the Foundations of Software Engineering · doi:10.1145/3696630.3731665 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
The Evolution of Information Seeking in Software Development: Understanding the Role and Impact of AI Assistants
Haque, E. A., Brown, C., LaToza, T. D., & Johnson, B. (2024) · arXiv
“…felt that while AI can expedite problem solving, it can also lead to a superficial understanding of new technologies if used for integration , which may be the reason why some participants reported feeling less confident and comfortable in using these technologies independently for learning.”
- Authors
- Cowan, N., Chen, Z., & Rouder, J. N.
- Affiliations
- University of Missouri (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2004-09
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 634-640
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2108661970
- Cited by
- 129
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 2.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD-21338, R01HD021338)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Keywords
- working memory capacity, chunking, Miller's law, serial recall, word association, associative strength, chunk size, training effects
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Humans, Logic, Male, Memory, Mental Recall
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