Psychology
How Working Memory Powers Reasoning and Problem Solving
Quick fact
Working memory capacity is typically only about 4 'chunks' of information—less than most people think, and far less than the famous '7 ± 2' often quoted.
Why this is interesting
You can easily remember a phone number long enough to dial it, but you'd struggle to multiply two large numbers in your head. Why does some information stay 'in mind' while other tasks feel impossible? The answer lies in the tiny mental scratchpad that powers all your thinking.