Mental Bandwidth is the extremely limited amount of cognitive resources we have available for completing tasks.
Our brains process about 11 million bits per second (bps) of information, but less than 100 bps are
within our conscious control. Less than one hundred! Out of 11 million...
In their book, Scarcity: The New Science of Having Less and How It Defines Our Lives,
Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir coin the term bandwidth to describe this concept of cognitive capacity.
From Scarcity: "Bandwidth measures our computational capacity,
our ability to pay attention, to make good decisions,
to stick with our plans, and to resist temptations."
Our brains process about 11 million bits per second (bps) of information, but less than 100 bps are
within our conscious control. Less than one hundred! Out of 11 million...
In their book, Scarcity: The New Science of Having Less and How It Defines Our Lives,
Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir coin the term bandwidth to describe this concept of cognitive capacity.
From Scarcity: "Bandwidth measures our computational capacity,
our ability to pay attention, to make good decisions,
to stick with our plans, and to resist temptations."
More About Attentional Resources (a.k.a. Mental Bandwidth)
The concepts of attention and attentional resources have been studied extensively, particularly in the psychology and neuroscience literature. These concepts help explain the cognitive processes—and limitations—of the individual.
The assertion is that there are two qualitatively different processes of human cognitive performance.
While the distinction between automatic and control processing is an important one, it is also necessary to note that, most likely, all tasks are carried out with some mixture of automatic and control processing.
The part of our brains that governs conscious awareness and control processing (our bandwidth) is estimated to be able to process about 40-60 bits per second, which is roughly equivalent to a short sentence. Yet the overall processing capacity of brain is estimated to be 11 million bits per second, indicating that the vast majority of tasks are carried out automatically.
The concepts of attention and attentional resources have been studied extensively, particularly in the psychology and neuroscience literature. These concepts help explain the cognitive processes—and limitations—of the individual.
The assertion is that there are two qualitatively different processes of human cognitive performance.
- One type of processing is a fast and fairly effortless process, which is often referred to as “automatic.” Automatic processing is generally not under direct control of the individual. In other words, individuals are seldom conscious of the automatic information processing that takes place.
- Automatic processing tasks use extremely small amounts of bandwidth, so many can be carried out simultaneously and without full awareness of the individual.
- The other type of processing is characterized as slow, effortful, regulated processing, and is sometimes referred to as “control.” Control processing is typically used to deal with novel tasks or information.
- Control processing uses most of an individual’s attentional resource capacity, or "mental bandwidth."
- Control processing tasks must compete for attentional resources in order to be completed successfully, and individuals are generally well aware of the completion of these tasks.
- Control processing uses most of an individual’s attentional resource capacity, or "mental bandwidth."
While the distinction between automatic and control processing is an important one, it is also necessary to note that, most likely, all tasks are carried out with some mixture of automatic and control processing.
The part of our brains that governs conscious awareness and control processing (our bandwidth) is estimated to be able to process about 40-60 bits per second, which is roughly equivalent to a short sentence. Yet the overall processing capacity of brain is estimated to be 11 million bits per second, indicating that the vast majority of tasks are carried out automatically.