Approximately how many chunks can the Episodic Buffer hold, and what is a 'chunk'?

• A. About two chunks; a chunk is meaningless.
• B. About eight chunks; a chunk is a simple piece.
• C. About four chunks; a chunk is a meaningful unit that can be a simple item or a group integrated into a single representation.
• D. About six chunks; a chunk is only a visual pattern.

Answer: (C)

The Episodic Buffer holds information from different parts of working memory as a single, integrated episode, and its capacity is about four chunks. A chunk is a meaningful unit of information that can be a simple item (like a single digit or letter) or a group of items treated as one unit because they form a familiar or coherent pattern (for example, a year like 1997 or a short word). Chunking lets you pack more information into those four slots by grouping items into larger, meaningful wholes. So you can store roughly four chunks at once, regardless of the mix of items, because what counts is the meaningful unit you’ve formed.