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memory span

British  

noun

  1. psychol the capacity of short-term memory, usually between 5 and 10 items

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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For instance, there is a famous case of the British classical musician Clive Wearing who, because of encephalitis, is said to have the memory span of a goldfish.

From Slate • Feb. 27, 2017

And while a puppy’s memory span is no longer than 30 seconds, the adult dog can remember for 5 minutes.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

The function that relates the type of pet to the duration of its memory span is more easily visualized with the use of a table.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

He attributes his speed and accuracy to "swift perception, long memory span, fluent associations, concentration, imagery."

From Time Magazine Archive

In this domain, the prize for efficacy goes to the Cantonese dialect of Chinese, whose brevity grants residents of Hong Kong a rocketing memory span of about 10 digits.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

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