HOW BIG IS HUMAN-MEMORY, OR ON BEING JUST USEFUL ENOUGH

Authors
Citation
Y. Dudai, HOW BIG IS HUMAN-MEMORY, OR ON BEING JUST USEFUL ENOUGH, Learning & memory, 3(5), 1997, pp. 341-365
Citations number
123
Categorie Soggetti
Psychology, Experimental
Journal title
ISSN journal
10720502
Volume
3
Issue
5
Year of publication
1997
Pages
341 - 365
Database
ISI
SICI code
1072-0502(1997)3:5<341:HBIHOO>2.0.ZU;2-V
Abstract
We are, in many respects, what we remember. But how much do we do? So far, science has provided only a very partial answer to this riddle. T he magical number seven, plus or minus two, seems to constrain the cap acity of our immediate memory (Miller 1956). But surely its constraint s dissipate when memories settle in long-term stores. Yet how big are these stores? If we combine all of our factual knowledge and personal reminiscence, childhood scenes and memories of the past day, intimate experiences and professional expertise-how many items are there, that, combined together, mold us into unique individuals? The answer is not simple, and neither is the question. For example, what is an item in long-term memory? And how can we measure it, being sure that we unveil memory capacity and not merely the occasional ability to tap it? Such theoretical and practical difficulties, no doubt, have contributed to the fact that the capacity of human memory is still an enigma. Yet, d espite the inherent and undeniable complexities, the issue deserves to be retrieved, once in a while, from the oblivions of the collective m emory of the scientific community. (For a selection of earlier discuss ions of the size of human long-term memory, see Galton 1879; Landauer 1986; Crovitz et al. 1991.)