Jamal is trying to buy something over the phone. He asks his partner to read him his credit card number. However, when he tries to repeat it to the salesclerk on the other end of the line, he can't remember all the numbers. Jamal is coming up against ________.
A) the decay of numerical memory
B) the extinction of auditory traces
C) George Miller's magic number 7, plus or minus 2
D) the limits of procedural memory

Question

Jamal is trying to buy something over the phone. He asks his partner to read him his credit card number. However, when he tries to repeat it to the salesclerk on the other end of the line, he can't remember all the numbers. Jamal is coming up against ________.
A) the decay of numerical memory 
B) the extinction of auditory traces
C) George Miller's magic number 7, plus or minus 2 
D) the limits of procedural memory

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

George Miller's theory suggests that the average person can hold about 7 items in their working memory, plus or minus 2, which explains Jamal's difficulty in remembering the entire credit card number.

Jamal Is Trying to Buy Something Over the Phone