Overcoming the Ebbinghaus Curve--How soon we forget



Overcoming the Ebbinghaus Curve--How soon we forget

In 1885, Herman Ebbinghaus did an experiment where subjects memorized a list of meaningless three letter words and tracked how quickly his subjects forgot the words.   As you can see from the graph below, known as the Ebbinghaus curve, learners will rapidly forget information.  In the case of meaningless information, only 20 minutes after they only remember 58% of the information.

 

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Graph from Purdue University

So how do we overcome the Ebbinghaus Curve?  Well the speed of forgetting depends on a number of factors such as the meaningfulness of the information, stress level, repetition of information and the use of mnemonic techniques.

So, making the information meaningful is one way to help remember.   It is a lot easier to remember the phone number of a favorite restaurant than 7 meaningless numbers.

As the graph below shows, repetition of learning definitely improves retention of information.  Initially the information needs to be repeated quickly--good instructors often repeat the important information in a class. However, review of information after a class also has a dramatic effect on information retention.  

According to the Curve  of Forgetting: University of Waterloo, participants who spend 10 minutes reviewing information within 24 hours of receiving will raise the curve almost to 100% again. A week later, it only takes 5 minutes to “reactivate” the same material and again raise the curve. By day 30, your brain will only need 2-4 minutes to give you the feedback, “Yes, I know that…”

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What do the two graphs above reveal about Herman Ebbinghaus’ study?

What four factors impact how well we remember material we learn?

What are mnemonic devices?

So what are some of your thoughts on how to use this information to increase your memory of the material you learn?

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