The magic number and the episodic buffer

Abstract

Cowan's revisiting of the magic number is very timely and the case he makes for a more moderate number than seven is persuasive. It is also appropriate to frame his case within a theoretical context, since this will influence what evidence to include and how to interpret it. He presents his model however, as a contrast to the working memory model of Baddeley (1986). I suggest that this reflects a misinterpretation of our model resulting in a danger of focusing attention on pseudo-problems rather than genuine disparities between his approach and my own.