Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Most people can keep only about four chunks of information active at once. The figure is taken from NIMH, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a human body fact?

Yes. It sits on the Human Body shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Working memory holds just a handful of items

Most people can keep only about four chunks of information active at once Working memory is the short-lived store used for mental arithmetic or following a route. Classic estimates of seven items have been revised downward to roughly four chunks, each chunk being a meaningful unit. Grouping items into chunks, such as digits into years, stretches the limit. It sits in Mondo's human body collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

NIMH

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

Science trivia

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A second exposure triggers a much faster immune responseMemory cells produced after a first infection shorten the response from weeks to days The hippocampus replays the day to build memoriesDuring sleep, it reactivates recent patterns and passes them to the cortex Smell reaches the cortex without a thalamic stopOlfactory nerve fibres run from the nose straight to the bulb and on to cortex The human brain contains about 86 billion neuronsVast neural networks communicate across trillions of individual synaptic connections The brain consumes twenty percent of the body energyDespite comprising two percent of body weight the brain uses massive metabolic fuel The human brain reorganises its structure through neuroplasticityNeural pathways constantly form and strengthen based on learning and experience

Tags: memory, brain, attention

Working memory holds just a handful of items: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Most people can keep only about four chunks of information active at once. The figure is taken from NIMH, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a human body fact?: Yes. It sits on the Human Body shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.