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-====== Overview of Human Memory Models ======
-===== Early models of memory =====
-Some of the first noted research on human memory was conducted in 1890 by **[[http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/exhibits/james/introduction.cfm|William James]]**. Based on his works, James assumed memory consists out of **two systems**:
-  * **primary memory**, which lasts for a **few seconds** and holds **in our consciousness** the perception of events in our environment, and
-  *** second memory**, which has **unlimited duration** and can be **brought to consciousness** if wanted.
-A measure for the **capacity of short-term** (primary) memory was first introduced even a bit earlier, in 1887, by **Joseph Jacobs**, who tested the span of digits his students were able to remember. Under the criterion that at least 50% of the digits need to be remembered correctly, subjects he tested mostly remembered **about 7 digits**. What he also noticed is that this result can be improved by grouping the digits (for example in groups of three), or reading aloud.
-Similar results were reported by Miller in 1956 in his famous work "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information"(([[http://cogprints.org/730/1/miller.html|Miller, G. A. The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63, 81–97. 1956.]])), where he suggested human short-term capacity was determined by the number of //chunks// or cognitive wholes one can remember, no matter if it is a letter, digit or word. This number on average equals seven, and may vary usually between five and nine.
-===== Bibliography =====
-[[http://penta.ufrgs.br/edu/telelab/1/famous.htm|Famous People and Their Contributions to the Study of Memory]] Retrieved March 16, 2011.

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