MEPX
Chapter 2 of 10All chapters
  1. 1How memory works
  2. 2Working memory
  3. 3Retrieval practice
  4. 4Spacing and interleaving
  5. 5Sleep and consolidation
  6. 6Study myths
  7. 7Understanding and elaboration
  8. 8Learning skills
  9. 9Memory techniques
  10. 10Putting it together

Chapter 2 of 10

Working memory

The bottleneck.

Capacity

Around four chunks at once, briefly. Every instruction, calculation or comparison competes for that space, which is why complex tasks need external support.

  • Chunking expands capacity: a phone number in groups beats eleven digits.
  • Write things down rather than holding them; the page has no limit.

Cognitive load

Learning fails when working memory is overloaded by presentation rather than by content. Removing distraction and splitting steps helps more than trying harder.