Capacity Millers Experiment

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CapacityMillers Experiment

• Jerusha Riegert
• Theories of Learning and Cognition

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Two Aspect of Capacity

• Memory Span
• Chunking

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Memorize numbers in sequence
1
4
Memorize numbers in sequence
8
5
Memorize numbers in sequence
6
6
Memorize numbers in sequence
3
7
Memorize numbers in sequence
5
8
Memorize numbers in sequence
2
9
Memorize numbers in sequence
7
10
Memorize numbers in sequence
4
11
Memorize numbers in sequence
9
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Answer 1 8 6 3 5 2 7 4 9

• This is considered the serial effect of the
  Memory Span
• Miller (1959) found that a person has only enough
  capacity in their STM for about 7 numbers /- 2,
  hence magic 7

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Lets Move On to Chunking
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Chunking Test 1
N W D H S A O W H T H S O
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Lets Try That One Again!
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Chunking Test 2
NSA WTO WHO DHS
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That seemed a lot easier! Hmm

• Millers paper stated that one way to overcome
  the capacity of the STM was to by combining
  smaller information pieces into larger ones, or
  by CHUNKING the info.
• Sooo

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How Was it Chunked?

• NSA WTO WHO DHS
• Do these sound familiar at all
• Government acronyms
• (Nation Security Agency, World Trade
  Organization, World Health Organization,
  Department of Homeland Security)

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Now That We Know Chunking.
190019901991200120042000
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Any Guesses?

• This chunking was based on 2 crieteria
• -- beginning and end of 20th c. (1900-2000)
• -- beginning and end of wars during the Bush
  Administrations (1990-1991 Gulf Conflict,
  2001-2004 War in Afghanistan)

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Well that about sums up the work of Miller and
his theory of the Magic Seven

• Thanks for participating, and good luck everyone!!