Table of contents
Introduce the 7±2 theory
The 7±2 theory, also known as "Miller's rule" or "working memory capacity theory", was proposed by cognitive psychologist George Miller in 1956. The theory holds that human beings have a limited short-term memory capacity and are able to remember and process information from about 7 (range 5 to 9) individual units at the same time.
The 7±2 theory mainly involves the capacity limitation of human short-term memory. According to the theory, there is a finite number of units of information that people can process in short-term memory, usually around seven, but could range from five to nine.
The practical implication of this theory is that when people are faced with too much information, they have a hard time processing and remembering it all at once. Information volumes that exceed the limits of short-term memory capacity can lead to loss or confusion of information.
This theory is very important for human-computer interaction and interface design. Considering the limitations of human short-term memory is key when designing user interfaces and interactive experiences. By grouping information, providing clear navigation and prompts, and reducing the complexity of information, you can help users better process and remember information in an interface.
To sum up, the 7±2 theory emphasizes the limitation of human short-term memory capacity, and reminds designers to pay attention to the organization and simplification of information in interface design to provide a better user experience.
Is it possible to understand that when a human being sees a sentence, there are only about 5-9 words that can be memorized for a short time?
Yes, you can understand it that way. According to the 7±2 theory, when faced with a sentence, the human short-term memory capacity is usually about 5 to 9 words. This means that when reading a sentence, people have a limited number of words that can be processed and remembered at the same time, around this range.
When the number of words in a sentence exceeds the limit of people's short-term memory capacity, they may face difficulty remembering and comprehension. Therefore, in written and spoken communication, people tend to use concise and clear sentence structure and control the number of words to help the listener or reader understand and remember the information better.
However, it is important to note that the exact amount of short-term memory capacity may vary due to individual differences, cognitive load, and other factors. In addition, memory capacity can also be enhanced by using memory strategies and techniques, such as grouping, association, and repetition.
All in all, when people face a sentence, the number of words that people can short-term memorize is about 5 to 9. Exceeding this range may affect memory and comprehension. Therefore, in communication and communication, taking into account the limitation of short-term memory capacity is an important factor in designing concise and easy-to-understand sentences and information transmission.
Introduce GOMS
GOMS (Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection rules) is a commonly used cognitive modeling method in the field of human-computer interaction, which is used to describe and predict the cognitive process and behavior of humans when performing specific tasks.
The core idea of the GOMS method is to decompose the human cognitive process into four levels: goals (Goals), operators (Operators), methods (Methods) and selection rules (Selection rules). Below is a brief introduction to each level:
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Goals: Goals are the desired results or states to be achieved when a person performs a task. They define the overall goal and subgoals of the task. Goals can be high-level, such as "complete a report," or low-level, such as "click a button."
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Operators: Operators are the basic cognitive operation units for performing tasks. They are the basic behaviors required to perform a task, such as pressing a key, clicking, reading, etc. Each operator has an execution time and an execution result.
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Methods (Methods): A method is a series of operator combinations that accomplish a task. They describe specific strategies or steps to accomplish a task. Methods can be sequential, parallel or conditional. By combining a series of operators into methods, tasks can be organized and performed more efficiently.
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Selection rules: Selection rules are the rules used to select the appropriate method or operator. They determine which action or approach to take in a given situation, based on the current context and goal state of the task.
Using the GOMS method, researchers and designers can analyze and predict the cognitive processes and behaviors humans need to perform specific tasks. By identifying the goals, operators, methods, and selection rules in a task, it can help design more effective, easy-to-use interfaces and systems, and optimize the efficiency and accuracy of task execution.
All in all, GOMS is a method for modeling and predicting human cognitive processes and behaviors, which helps designers understand and optimize the design of human-computer interaction systems by decomposing tasks into goals, operators, methods, and selection rules.
Introduce LOTOS
LOTOS (Language Of Temporal Ordering Specification) is a formal description language used to describe the behavior and interaction of concurrent systems. It was developed jointly by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Consultative Committee for International Telegraphy and Telephonery (CCITT) to support the specification, verification and testing of communication and computing systems.
LOTOS provides an action- and event-based syntax for describing the interaction and communication between concurrent processes in the system. It uses strict semantics and temporal order to describe the order of occurrence and temporal nature of events in the system. Key features and concepts of LOTOS include:
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Action: Describes atomic operations or events in the system, which can be sending messages, receiving messages, process startup, etc.
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Process: Represents concurrent processes in the system, which can perform a series of actions and interact with other processes.
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Interprocess Communication: Describes the communication and interaction methods between processes, such as message passing, shared variables, etc.
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Temporal Properties: It is used to describe the timing relationship of events in the system, such as sequential occurrence, concurrent occurrence, synchronization, etc.
The syntax and semantics of LOTOS provide a precise, formal approach that can be used to specify, verify, and test the behavior of concurrent systems. It can help analyze the communication and interaction in the system, detect concurrency problems, deadlocks, race conditions, etc., and provide a system design and development framework based on formal methods.
In summary, LOTOS is a formal description language for describing the behavior and interaction of concurrent systems. By defining actions, processes and communication methods, and describing the temporal nature of events, it provides a precise and formal method to regulate and verify the behavior of the system.