George A. Miller

Cognitive Science American 1920 – 2012 106 quotes

A pioneering cognitive psychologist known for his seminal paper 'The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two' on short-term memory capacity.

Quotes by George A. Miller

The human capacity for language is truly remarkable.

The Science of Words 1991

We are all driven by our plans and goals.

Plans and the Structure of Behavior 1960

The study of meaning is at the heart of cognitive science.

The Science of Words 1991

The mind is an active, constructive agent.

Psychology: The Science of Mental Life 1967

The most important thing about science is that it's always changing.

Interview 2000

The human mind is capable of extraordinary feats of memory and learning.

The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information 1956

The computer is a powerful metaphor for understanding the mind, but it is just a metaphor.

Speech 1980

The study of language is a window into the human mind.

The Science of Words 1991

The cognitive revolution was a necessary step in the progress of psychology.

Interview 1979

The human mind is a complex and beautiful thing.

Interview 2000

My problem is that I have been persecuted by an integer.

The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two 1956

There seems to be some peculiarly 'magical' properties of the number seven.

The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two 1956

The psychological literature on the capacity of immediate memory is vast but disorganized.

The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two 1956

It is notable that the number 7 occurs so frequently in modern science and technology.

The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two 1956

The span of absolute judgment and the span of immediate memory impose severe limitations on the amount of information that we are able to receive, process, and remember.

The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two 1956

Cognitive psychology is the science of the mind.

Psychology: The Science of Mental Life 1960

Plans are any hierarchical process in the organism that can control the order in which a sequence of actions is to be performed.

Plans and the Structure of Behavior 1960

The test of a theory is not elegance but explanatory and predictive power.

Speech at APA Convention 1967

Language is the most complex skill we ever learn, yet we acquire it effortlessly as children.

Interview with Psychology Today 1970

Words are the atoms that we use to build the molecules of our thoughts.

Language and Communication 1951