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The magical number 4 in vision

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2001

Brian J. Scholl
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Vision Sciences Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 scholl@wjh.harvard.edu www.wjh.harvard.edu/~scholl
Yaoda Xu
Affiliation:
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 yaoda@psyche.mit.edu
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Abstract

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Some of the evidence for a “magical number 4” has come from the study of visual cognition, and Cowan reinterprets such evidence in terms of a single general limit on memory and attention. We evaluate this evidence, including some studies not mentioned by Cowan, and argue that limitations in visual processing are distinct from those involved in other memory phenomena.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press