"A seminal mid-century paper by the psychologist George Miller asserted that the human brain can hold seven items in short-term memory, give or take a couple."
"A person can chunk-that is, group items together in sensible, memorable units-to get a bit more bang, but modern psychologists think the species can handle only about four of those."
"And by the way, did you know that in addition to Dollywood (very much not a filmmaking industry, unless you count the 2022 TV movie Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas), there is a Dhollywood and a Dhallywood? The former is India's Gujarati-language industry, named for its frequent use of the drum known as a dhol. The latter is Bangladesh's movie industry, named for the country's capital, Dhaka. And the surrealist cinema of the early 20th century, such as Un Chien Andalou? Maybe ... Dalíwood!"
George Miller's mid-century paper asserted that the human brain can hold seven items in short-term memory, give or take a couple. Modern psychologists estimate capacity around four chunks, and chunking—grouping items into sensible, memorable units—can increase effective capacity. Trivia items tested recall about recent events and cultural facts: a venue fire served as a metaphor for climate change; Martin Luther's 1517 collection of arguments is known as the Ninety-Five Theses; Nollywood is the major moviemaking industry in Nigeria. Film-industry nicknames include Dollywood, Dhollywood (Gujarati), and Dhallywood (Bangladesh).
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