A student has taken a summer job answering telephone calls for sales orders.He quickly learns that it is pretty easy to remember a customer's seven-digit phone number,but it is much more difficult to keep track of a sixteen-digit credit card number.According to the conclusions of researcher George Miller,why is the student having difficulty with longer strings of numbers?
A)the capacity of sensory memory is quite limited.
B)memory span covers only five to nine items.
C)retroactive interference has taken place
D)the information has not been transferred to his sensory memory.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to George Miller's research, the memory span for most people is between five to nine items. Therefore, the student's difficulty in remembering a sixteen-digit credit card number is likely due to exceeding his memory span. Choice A is incorrect because sensory memory is capable of briefly storing large amounts of information. Choice C is incorrect as retroactive interference occurs when new information interferes with the retrieval of previously learned information and is not relevant in this scenario. Choice D is also incorrect as there is no indication that the information has not been transferred to sensory memory.

A Student Has Taken a Summer Job Answering Telephone Calls