What is often referred to as "the magical number" related to short-term memory capacity?

The concept of "the magical number" refers to a standard idea in cognitive psychology identified by George A. Miller in his 1956 paper, which suggests that the capacity of short-term memory is typically around seven items. This number has been widely discussed in literature and is a key principle in understanding how much information can be held and manipulated in short-term memory at any given time. The number seven reflects a balance point where individuals can manage and recall items effectively, leading to the idea that our cognitive processing is optimized around this limit.

In practice, the seven-item capacity can be influenced by techniques like chunking, where smaller units of information are grouped into more manageable and meaningful sets, effectively allowing individuals to hold more than seven discrete pieces of information in memory. This principle remains a foundational concept in studies of memory and cognition, highlighting significant implications for learning and recalling information.