Imagine you’re learning something new, like a new language. Have you noticed that after you first learn them, you can remember them quite well, as time goes on, you start forgetting them? This is what the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve is all about.
Over a century ago, a psychologist named Hermann Ebbinghaus did some experiments on himself. He learned a lot of made-up words and then tested himself to see how well he could remember them. What he found can be explained in a few main points:
- Forgetting Happens Quickly: Right after you learn something, you tend to forget it really fast. In the first few hours, your memory of the new information drops a lot.
- Forgetting Slows Down: After that initial drop, you don’t forget things as quickly. The rate at which you forget slows down a bit, but you still keep forgetting.
- Remembering Levels Off: Eventually, the rate of forgetting starts to level off. This means that while you’re still forgetting, it’s happening at a steadier and slower pace.
- Spacing Helps: Ebbinghaus also figured out that if you review what you’ve learned at specific times, you can remember it for longer. It’s like your brain needs reminders spaced out over time to hold onto the information.
Ebbinghaus’s work made us discover that forgetting is a natural process, but there are ways to fight it. Regularly reviewing what you’ve learned and spacing out your practice sessions can help you remember things better over a longer period, which explains why you won’t be able to effectively study if you cram everything into one day. This idea has been useful in education and learning techniques to help people remember things more effectively.
