ME 2212 Chapter : Design Chapter 3
Document Summary
Our minds are complex problem solving machines, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Although each mind is different, we all use long-term memory, short-term memory, and a controller to solve the problems we are faced with. The information we use during problem solving are known as chucks, which can be general, domain-specific, or procedural. Only about seven chunks can be used during short-term memory. This is why short-term memory is our fastest and most commonly used processor. The best example of short-term memory is something we use every day: phone numbers. Phone numbers are seven digits because anything longer would be forgotten by most people. Since phone numbers, and many other daily occurrences, fill or exceed the chunks we can process; we have to sketch or use items in our environment to expand our short term memory. It is harder to store knowledge, but makes up for it with its fast recall and infinite size.
