For example the binary number 111011011110 is more difficult to remember than the decimal number 3806, but the hexadecimal number EDE is even 'easier' to remember, and while all these different based numbers have the same value, behavioral conditioning has given the decimal number a considerably false sense of human memory measurement, which in fact is just the result of a prior training technique that can be 'redone' without even the need of the concept of 'human memory.'īesides, some great chefs say that measurements just get in the way of the art. Maybe what I think I'm talking about can be illustrated by using different base systems. Most of these 'lengths' are just cultural artifacts that only give a vague value comparison to other members of the culture, or even to the history of the same individual. The same is true for the length of words. Learning Assembly Language Programming gives a great clue that the number of digits in a number has a large degree of irrelevancy in the measurement of an individual's memory ability. Most people manage to recap around seven digits. Right afterwards, the test subject has to recall the correct digits in the same order. After learning about all the flaws in psychological testing, I now always wonder about any soft-science testing and measurement system, and all the inadvertent invalidities and biases that 'sneak' in. Digit Span Test (Online Tool) The digit span test is a way of measuring the storage capacity of a person’s working memory: A testperson is visually or auditorily exposed to a sequence of digits one after the other. Such technicalities become extremely important with functional neurological sciences.ĭeveloping new memory tricks after brain damage, or creating new pathways around frequently malfunctioning areas, is frequently possible, as illustrated by many stroke patients. The 'measurement of memory' usually involves an initial external cue, so the act of measuring any memory greatly limits the notion of the extent of memory. Skinner, then reading 'Rememberance of Things Past' by Proust, I look at 'memory' as a schedule of mainly internally-cued behaviours. Reading the 'Memory Book' by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucus back in the mid-1970's, after reading B.F.

Ways digit span