News

Um ... what was I supposed to tell you again?

Oh, right. New research suggests our capacity to remember things is lower than previously thought.

Our working memories may max out at three or four items, according to a study published this month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Earlier research had pegged that number at about seven. But the study by University of Missouri researchers suggests the true number is lower when people are not allowed to use memory aids, such as grouping items together or repeating them over and over.

"There are around three or four slots in which basic information can go," said University of Missouri psychologist Nelson Cowan, who co-authored the study. For example, people tend to be able to remember 10-digit numbers, but they're helped because those 10 digits are often presented in groups, he said.

Similarly, if someone tells you a story, you won't remember it word for word. But you can recall the gist of it because you've grouped all those words into a few basic ideas, he said.

Definitions for working memory vary, but it is generally defined as a more active form of short-term memory. Working memory relates to information we can pay attention to and consciously manipulate.

The study adds more ammunition to the theory that our working memories have finite capacities.

"This has many applications to real life," Dr. Cowan said. For example, when drivers get into traffic accidents while talking on their cellphones, that may have more to do with cognitive overload than a physical inability to juggle a phone and grip the steering wheel at the same time.