ebbinghaus experiment on memory

Hermann Ebbinghaus and the Experimental Study of Memory

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850 – 1909)

On January 24, 1850, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus was born. Ebbinghaus pioneered the experimental study of memory, and is known for his discovery of the forgetting curve and the spacing effect .

“When we read how one mediæval saint stood erect in his cell for a week without sleep or food, merely chewing a plantain-leaf out of humility, so as not to be too perfect; how another remained all night up to his neck in a pond that was freezing over; and how others still performed for the glory of God feats no less tasking to their energies, we are inclined to think, that, with the gods of yore, the men, too, have departed, and that the earth is handed over to a race whose will has become as feeble as its faith.” – Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885) [8]

Hermann Ebbinghaus – Early Years

Hermann Ebbinghaus was born in Barmen , in the Rhine Province of the Kingdom of Prussia and attended the University of Bonn where he intended to study history and philology. In 1870, his studies were interrupted when he served with the Prussian Army in the Franco-Prussian War. Ebbinghaus evolved a great interest in philosophy and finished his dissertation on Eduard von Hartmann ‘s Philosophie des Unbewussten ( Philosophy of the Unconscious ). After earning his doctorate degree in 1873, Ebbinghaus spent much time in Halle and Berlin and also traveled through England and France. It is assumed that Ebbinghaus took teachers positions while on travel and apparently he discovered Gustav Fechner ‘s book Elemente der Psychophysik ( Elements of Psychophysics ) while in London.[ 4 ] The book highly inspired the young scientist to start his own research on memory studies.

Experimental Psychology

Ebbinghaus’ famous work, Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology was already published in 1885 and was so successful that he was appointed professor at the University of Berlin. Ebbinghaus and Arthur König founded the Psychological journal Zeitschrift für Physiologie und Psychologie der Sinnesorgane in 1890. Ebbinghaus joined the University of Breslau, Poland and studied how children’s mental ability declined during the school day. He also founded a psychological testing laboratory there. Die Grundzüge der Psychologie where published in 1902, which was an instant success. Two years later, Ebbinghaus moved to Halle. His last and quite successful work Abriss der Psychologie ( Outline of Psychology ) was published in 1908.

Prior Knowledge, Understanding, and Learning

Contrary to most scientists studying higher mental processes, Ebbinghaus believed that research could be conducted through experiments. He developed a system recognizing the fact that learning is always affected by prior knowledge and understanding. Ebbinghaus figured that he would need something that would be memorized easily but without prior cognitive associations. The scientist created the so called “ nonsense syllables “. This can be understood as a consonant-vowel-consonant combination, where the consonant does not repeat and the syllable does not have prior meaning, like DAX, BOK, and YAT. After creating the collection of syllables, Ebbinghaus pulled out a number of random syllables from a box and then write them down in a notebook. Then, to the regular sound of a metronome, and with the same voice inflection, he would read out the syllables, and attempt to recall them at the end of the procedure. One investigation alone required 15,000 recitations.

The Forgetting Curve

However, there were also some limitations in Ebbinghaus’ work on memory. For instance, he was the only subject in the study and therefore it was not generalizability to the population. Also, a large bias is to be expected when a subject is a participant in the experiment as well as the researcher. Still, Ebbinghaus managed to contribute significantly to the research on memory. His most famous finding is probably the forgetting curve , which describes the exponential loss of information that one has learned. His results roughly state that just 20 minutes after learning, we can only recall 60% of what we have learned. After one hour, only 45% of what has been learned is still in our memory, and after one day only 34%. Six days after learning, the memory has already shrunk to 23%; only 15% of what has been learned is permanently stored.

The Ebbinghaus Illusion – The two orange circles in the middle are the same size.

The Ebbinghaus Illusion

In the most famous version of this illusion, two circles of identical size are placed close to each other and one is surrounded by large circles while the other is surrounded by smaller circles; the first central circle appears smaller than the second central circle. This illusion has been used extensively in research in cognitive psychology to learn more about the different perceptual pathways in our brain. In the English-speaking world, the circles were published by Edward Bradford Titchener in a book on experimental psychology in 1901, hence their alternative name Titchener circles .

Shortly after the publication of Abriss der Psychologie , on February 26, 1909, Ebbinghaus died from pneumonia at the age of 59.

References and Further Reading:

[1] Hermann Ebbinghaus at the Human Intelligence
[2] Hermann Ebbinghaus at Famous Psychologists
[3] Hermann Ebbinghaus at Britannica
[4] Gustav Fechner and Psychophysics , SciHi Blog, April 19, 2016.
[5] Works by or about Hermann Ebbinghaus at Internet Archive
[6] Hermann Ebbinghaus at the Human Intelligence website
[7] Ebbinghaus, H. (1885). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology . New York: Dover.
[8] Ebbinghaus, H. “ Experiments in Memory ,” in Science Vol. 6, 1885, p. 198
[9] Hermann Ebbinghaus at Wikidata
[10] Chris Dula, Memory: Forgetting Curve and Serial Position Effect , 2014, East Tennessee State University @ youtube
[11] Ebbinghaus, H. (1908). Psychology: An elementary textbook. New York: Arno Press.
[12] Timeline of German Psychologists , via DBpedia and Wikidata

Tabea Tietz

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Hermann Ebbinghaus

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Hermann Ebbinghaus - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Hermann Ebbinghaus (born January 24, 1850, Barmen, Rhenish Prussia [Germany]—died February 26, 1909, Halle , Germany) was a German psychologist who pioneered in the development of experimental methods for the measurement of rote learning and memory.

Ebbinghaus received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Bonn in 1873. Shortly thereafter he became assistant professor at the Friedrich-Wilhelm University, Berlin, a post he held until 1894, when he was appointed professor at the University of Breslau.

Using himself as a subject for observation, Ebbinghaus devised 2,300 three-letter nonsense syllables for measuring the formation of mental associations. This learning invention, together with the stringent control factors that he developed and his meticulous treatment of data, brought him to the conclusion that memory is orderly. His findings, which included the well-known “forgetting curve” that relates forgetting to the passage of time, were reported in Über das Gedächtnis (1885; Memory ).

After completing his work on memory, Ebbinghaus turned to research on colour vision and in 1890, with the physicist Arthur König, founded the periodical Zeitschrift für Psychologie und Physiologie der Sinnesorgane (“Journal of the Psychology and Physiology of the Sense Organs”). In conjunction with a study of the mental capacities of Breslau schoolchildren (1897), he created a word-completion test. That same year the first part of another work on which his reputation rests, Grundzüge der Psychologie (1902; “Principles of Psychology”), was published. In 1905 he left Breslau for the University of Halle, where he wrote a still more popular work, Abriss der Psychologie (1908; “Summary of Psychology”). Ebbinghaus’ research showed that, contrary to prevailing beliefs, scientific methods could be applied to the study of the higher thought processes.

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Memory: a contribution to experimental psychology

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1 Translated by Henry A. Ruger & Clara E. Bussenius (1913) (Reprinted with permission).
PMID: 25206041
PMCID: PMC4117135
DOI: 10.5214/ans.0972.7531.200408

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Hermann Ebbinghaus and the Scientific Study of Memory

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Hermann Ebbinghaus was a pivotal figure in psychology, renowned for his groundbreaking research on memory. His experiments with over 2,300 nonsensical syllables led to the discovery of the forgetting curve and insights into the learning curve and spaced repetition. Ebbinghaus's work on memory retention, relearning, and the serial position effect has significantly influenced cognitive psychology and learning theories.

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Early Life and Inspiration

Birth and background.

Hermann Ebbinghaus was born on January 24, 1850, in Barmen, Germany and was inspired by the works of Gustav Fechner

Influence of Gustav Fechner

Elements of Psychophysics

Ebbinghaus was inspired by Gustav Fechner's "Elements of Psychophysics" in his pursuit of studying memory

Beginning of Memory Experiments

In 1878, Ebbinghaus began conducting systematic memory experiments on himself

Contributions to Experimental Psychology

Establishment of experimental psychology.

Ebbinghaus was instrumental in establishing experimental psychology as a scientific discipline

Co-founding of "Zeitschrift für Psychologie und Physiologie der Sinnesorgane"

Ebbinghaus co-founded the "Zeitschrift für Psychologie und Physiologie der Sinnesorgane" (Journal of Psychology and Physiology of the Sense Organs)

Academic Positions

Ebbinghaus held academic posts at the University of Berlin, the University of Breslau, and the University of Halle

Groundbreaking Memory Experiments

Use of nonsense syllables.

Ebbinghaus used over 2,300 nonsensical syllables to control for prior knowledge and semantic associations in his memory experiments

Discovery of the Forgetting Curve

Ebbinghaus's research led to the discovery of the forgetting curve, which shows the decline in memory retention over time

Learning Curve and Spaced Repetition Technique

Ebbinghaus also examined the learning curve and provided empirical support for the spaced repetition technique, which enhances memory consolidation and retention over time

Key Concepts in the Study of Memory

Savings in relearning.

Ebbinghaus introduced the concept of "savings" in relearning, indicating that previously learned information is easier to reacquire

Involuntary and Voluntary Memory

Ebbinghaus distinguished between involuntary and voluntary memory

Serial Position Effect

Ebbinghaus described the serial position effect, which explains why items at the beginning and end of a list are more likely to be remembered

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Ebbinghaus's influential book, 'On Memory,' was originally published in the year ______.

Ebbinghaus's challenge to Wundt's belief

Ebbinghaus contested Wundt's view that memory couldn't be experimentally studied.

Ebbinghaus's method for studying memory

Used over 2,300 nonsensical syllables to study memory retention and forgetting.

Ebbinghaus's experimental variables

Varied list lengths and repetition frequencies to analyze memory processes.

The equation ______ = e^(-t/S) mathematically represents the decline in memory retention, where 't' stands for time.

Forgetting Curve Concept

Ebbinghaus's theory that memory retention decreases over time without practice or review.

Learning Curve Description

Graphical representation of the rate at which new information is learned; steep at first, flattens over time.

Spaced Repetition Technique

Learning strategy involving reviewing information at gradually increasing intervals to enhance retention.

He noted the 'serial position effect,' where items at the ______ and ______ of a list are more memorable, known as the ______ and ______ effects.

beginning end primacy recency

Ebbinghaus's empirical approach

Used controlled experiments and nonsense syllables to eliminate bias and ensure objectivity in memory research.

Ebbinghaus's contribution to verbal intelligence testing

Developed sentence completion tests, a method still used in psychological assessments to measure verbal intelligence.

Ebbinghaus's influence on psychology publications

Founded a specialized psychology journal, promoting academic discourse and research in the field of psychology.

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Gustavo Munro 3 ,
Mario A. Laborda 3 ,
Gonzalo Miguez 3 &
Vanetza E. Quezada-Scholz 3

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Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909) is considered one of the experimental psychologist’s pioneers. He was one of the first to investigate memory using an experimental paradigm, heavily contrasting with the predominant unscientific approaches used by psychologists of his era. Despite the lack of proper control procedures in his work – relative to what we know today – he demonstrated that memory is a phenomenon that can be measured and studied scientifically.

About His Life

Ebbinghaus was born on the 24th of January of 1850 in the former Kingdom of Prussia, specifically in the city of Barmen which belongs to the province of Rhine. Son of a prestigious and wealthy merchant (Carl Ebbinghaus), he had a traditional evangelical education, and as soon as he was able, he joined the University of Bonn and later the University of Berlin and Halle (Shakow 1930 ). He studied history and philology at first, but quickly gained an interest in philosophy. Nonetheless, his studies were interrupted by the...

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Ebbinghaus, H. (1902). Grundzüge der Psychologie . Leipzig: Veit & Comp. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/grundzgederpsy01ebbi/page/n5/mode/2up .

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Munro, G., Laborda, M.A., Miguez, G., Quezada-Scholz, V.E. (2021). Ebbinghaus. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_89-1

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DOI: 10.5214/ans.0972.7531.200408
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Memory: a contribution to experimental psychology.

H. Ebbinghaus
Published in Annals of Neurosciences 1 September 1987

668 Citations

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Recalling Psychology’s Past: The Memory Drum

History of Psychology

In 1885, Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909) published Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology . The work has stood the test of time and earned Ebbinghaus a place of distinction in the study of memory.

In order to study memory free from the effects of prior learning, Ebbinghaus constructed his now famous “nonsense syllables.” All together, he created about 2,300 nonsense syllables that he grouped into and subsequently tried to memorize. Using a metronome to pace himself, he would measure how long memorization took.

Ebbinghaus’ work inspired a new generation of early psychologists intent on researching memory. Among these were Georg Elias Mueller (1850-1934) and Friedrich Schumann (1862-1940). Although they recognized the value of Ebbinghaus’ work, they also saw limitations.

First, Ebbinghaus used himself as both subject and experimenter, creating multiple roles that could have impacted his findings. Secondly, his use of lists of syllables meant that even though he was only supposed to be viewing one stimulus at a time, his visual range could perceive other syllables occurring above and below on the list. Thirdly, Ebbinghaus’ use of the metronome to pace himself was a step in the right direction of equalizing exposure to each syllable; but it was not the most precise method. What was needed was a new piece of laboratory apparatus that could address and improve upon these issues.

Mueller and Schumann discovered a new function for an already ubiquitous piece of lab equipment: the kymograph, a rotating metal drum that would revolve paper against a stylus in order to record physiological responses. The kymograph was particularly useful since its rotation was timed and would be constant. James McKeen Cattell had used a similar device for presenting color patches and words when he was a student with Wilhelm Wundt at Leipzig (Haupt, 2001).

In 1887, Mueller and Schumann literally turned the kymograph on its side and put the material to be memorized around it. A screen was placed in front of the rotating drum so that only one item was visible at any time. Through several revisions using different types of kymographs, Mueller and Schumann finally found one that suited their needs. Their 1894 article was the first to explain the use of a new laboratory apparatus: the memory drum.

A drawback of Mueller and Schumann’s memory drum was that its constant movement always had the stimulus in motion upwards or downwards. Otto Lipmann (1880-1933), a student of Ebbinghaus, devised a way of moving the drum a certain amount in a stepping action so that the stimulus was held still for a fixed amount of time and then stepped out of sight. (Lipmann, 1904). It was Lipmann’s device that Ralph Gerbrands at Harvard used as the basis for his memory drum, illustrated in Robert Woodworth’s influential Experimental Psychology (Woodworth, 1938). This drum would be the design used for virtually all the memory drums to come later.

Soon to become a staple in psychology laboratories across the world, memory drums would continue to yield to innovation. Variations of this first apparatus have come and gone in the century since its invention, and many interesting examples can be found at the Archives of the History of American Psychology in Akron, Ohio.

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About the Authors

Nick Joyce is a graduate assistant at the Archives of the History of American Psychology and a doctoral student in counseling psychology at the University of Akron. David Baker is the Margaret Clark Morgan Director of the Archives of the History of American Psychology and Professor of Psychology at the University of Akron. Rand Evans, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, East Carolina University, is the editor of this series.

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Book Table of Contents

Chapter Contents

From Ebbinghaus to Encoding

The first 80 years of research on memory saw changing assumptions about the nature of memory. The earliest researchers assumed memory was a process of receiving experiences and storing them away to be recalled later. Gradually the picture grew more complicated.

By the 1960s, researchers were documenting complex encoding processes that transformed information as it was taken into memory. In this section of the chapter, we will start with early memory research and trace the evolution of assumptions into the computer era.

The scientific study of memory started with the work of Hermann Ebbinghaus, published in 1885 in the book Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology . Ebbinghaus was a careful, cautious researcher who followed simple but logical procedures.

Ebbinghaus had one experimental subject: himself. He presented himself with items to memorize, waited for a precise amount of time, and then tested himself to see how much he remembered.

Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables . These were letter combinations like RIY and TPR that Ebbinghaus intended to be meaningless. He gave up on the idea of studying memory for prose (ordinary writing) and poetry, because he had too many associations to the material, and that affected memory. As Ebbinghaus put it:

These materials [poetry and prose] bring into play a multiplicity of influences that change without regularity and are therefore disturbing. Such are associations which dart here and there, different degrees of interest, lines of verse recalled because of their striking beauty, and the like. All this is avoided with our syllables. (Ebbinghaus 1885/1913, p.23)

Why did Ebbinghaus use nonsense syllables?

Nonsense syllables were stimuli Ebbinghaus had never seen before. He wanted to study memory for things being learned for the first time, so nonsense syllables seemed to meet his needs.

As it turns out, nonsense syllables are not treated as "nonsense" by most people who try to memorize them. Subjects easily relate nonsense syllables to actual or made-up words. That realization came years after Ebbinghaus published his research.

What are different types of trigrams?

Nonsense syllables are non-word letter combinations. A nonsense syllable composed of three consonants is a CCC trigram.

A nonsense syllable with a consonant, vowel, and consonant is a CVC trigram. A two-letter nonsense syllable is a bigram; a four-letter syllable is a quadragram.

CCC trigrams	CVC trigrams
CYB WSP LXK TPR SSS DRW	RIY SEH XOP QUZ PUY NIQ

Ebbinghaus memorized over 2,000 nonsense syllables in the course of his work. He called each presentation of nonsense syllables a trial .

Ebbinghaus gave himself repeated trials until he learned the material to a criterion level of memorization. In his case, the criterion was two perfect (error-free) recalls of the list.

Who was Ebbinghaus's main subject? What is a "trial" in memory research?

A criterion is a goal that must be met, for memorization to be considered complete. Ebbinghaus used the criterion of two perfect recalls of a list.

Ebbinghaus figured his memory of a list was not very stable if he could not reproduce the list correctly twice in a row. Two perfect recalls seemed like a reasonable criterion of memorization.

You do not need a criterion of learning in every experiment. If you want to find out how much a person gets out of one exposure to a list of words, you could just present a list once and test a person the next day.

But if you are interested in studying how long a memory lasts, you must be sure the memory is fully formed. A criterion of memorization or criterion of learning defines the point at which material is considered to be really memorized.

When is a criterion of learning or memorization needed?

After reaching his criterion of learning, Ebbinghaus waited for a length of time called the retention interval . During this time, the information had to be held (retained) in memory.

The retention interval is defined as the time from the last presentation of the material (the end of the last trial) until the test. Ebbinghaus experimented with retention intervals ranging from several minutes to several days.

What is a retention interval?

Finally, after the retention interval, memory has to be tested or measured in some way. Ebbinghaus tested his memory by relearning the same list.

Naturally, he required fewer trials to learn the list a second time. Ebbinghaus measured the strength of memory by the savings that occurred between the first and second learning periods.

It might take 10 trials to learn a list to the criterion of two perfect recalls the first time. If it only took 5 trials the second time, he called this 50% savings.

What measurement technique did Ebbinghaus use?

The savings measure is not used very much in today's memory research. However, it represents a powerful way of measuring memory called relearning .

Relearning can show the effects of experience after other types of memory vanish. For example, a student exposed to a foreign language as a child may learn the language quickly in a college course. Even if little conscious memory of the original learning remains, it is revealed as "savings" or unusually rapid learning the second time around.

In what sense is relearning a powerful measure of memory?

The Forgetting Curve

Ebbinghaus discovered that the greatest amount of forgetting occurred soon after learning a list. After a rapid initial drop-off, the memory slowly weakened with time. The curve Ebbinghaus discovered is called the forgetting curve .

When does the most forgetting take place in the least amount of time?

Today's researchers usually express results of a memory test as a percentage of items retained . If you remember 4 of 10 items, you have 40% retention. Forgetting is the opposite of retention. If you have 40% retention, you have 60% forgetting.

Other researchers, using similar laboratory tasks, confirmed the basic shape of the forgetting curve discovered by Ebbinghaus. However, personal event memories (memories for single events in life) may follow a different forgetting curve.

Marigold Linton (1979) wrote down two memorable events every day for six years, then systematically tested her recall of these events. She found that she lost the ability to retrieve 5-6% of the items per year.

She did not find the same curve as Ebbinghaus. Her data fell on a straight line. This illustrates how sometimes a pattern that occurs in laboratory settings may not appear in more naturalistic situations.

What did Linton study? How did her results differ from the classic forgetting curve?

--------------------- References:

Ebbinghaus, H. (1885/1913). Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology . (Transl: H. A. Ruger & C. E. Bussenius.) New York: Teachers College.

Linton, M. (1982). Transformations of memory in everyday life. In U. Neisser (Ed.) Memory Observed: Remembering in Natural Contexts. San Francisco: Freeman.

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Using the Contributions of Hermann Ebbinghaus to Improve Your Memory

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909) was a pioneer of the study of memory. In this section we consider three of his most important findings, each of which can help you improve your memory. In his research, in which he was the only research participant, Ebbinghaus practiced memorizing lists of nonsense syllables, such as the following:

D I F, L A J , L EQ, M UV, W YC , DA L , SE N , K EP, N U D

You can imagine that because the material that he was trying to learn was not at all meaningful, it was not easy to do. Ebbinghaus plotted how many of the syllables he could remember against the time that had elapsed since he had studied them. He discovered an important principle of memory: Memory decays rapidly at first, but the amount of decay levels off with time ( Figure 8.9 ). Although Ebbinghaus looked at forgetting after days had elapsed, the same effect occurs on longer and shorter time scales. Bahrick (1984) 1 found that students who took a Spanish language course forgot about one half of the vocabulary that they had learned within three years, but that after that time their memory remained pretty much constant. Forgetting also drops off quickly on a shorter time frame. This suggests that you should try to review the material that you have already studied right before you take a n exam; that way, you will be more likely to remember the material during the exam.

Ebbinghaus also discovered another important principle of learning, known as the spa c ing e ff ec t . The spacing effect refers to the fa c t that l e arning i s b e tt e r w h e n the same a mount of study is spr e ad out o ve r p e riods of time than it is w h e n it o cc urs c los e r tog e th e r or at the same tim e . This means that even if you have only a limited amount of time to study, you’ll learn more if you study continually throughout the semester (a little bit every day is best) than if you wait to cram at the last minute before your exam ( Figure 8.10 ). Another good strategy is to study and then wait as long as you can before you forget the material. Then review the information and again wait as long as you can before you forget it. (This probably will be a longer period of time than the first time.) Repeat and repeat again. The spacing effect is usually considered in terms of the difference between distribut e d pra c ti c e (practice that is spread out over time) and mass e d pra c ti c e (practice that comes in one block), with the former approach producing better memory.

Ebbinghaus also considered the role of o ve rl e arni n g —that is, continuing to practice and study even when we think that we have mastered the material. Ebbinghaus and other researchers have found that overlearning helps encoding (Driskell, Willis, & Copper, 1992). 2 Students frequently think that they have already mastered the material but then discover when they get to the exam that they have not. The point is clear: Try to keep studying and reviewing, even if you think you already know all the material.

Approach and Pedagogy
The Problem of Intuition Research Focus: Unconscious Preferences for the Letters of Our Own Name
Why Psychologists Rely on Empirical Methods
Levels of Explanation in Psychology
The Challenges of Studying Psychology KET TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Early Psychologists
Structuralism: Introspection and the Awareness of Subjective Experience
Functionalism and Evolutionary Psychology
Psychodynamic Psychology
Behaviorism and the Question of Free Will Research Focus: Do We Have Free Will?
The Cognitive Approach and Cognitive Neuroscience The War of the Ghosts
Social-Cultural Psychology
The Many Disciplines of Psychology Psychology in Everyday Life: How to Effectively Learn and Remember KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Chapter Summary
The Scientific Method
Laws and Theories as Organizing Principles
The Research Hypothesis
Conducting Ethical Research Characteristics of an Ethical Research Project Using Human Participants
Ensuring That Research Is Ethical
Research With Animals APA Guidelines on Humane Care and Use of Animals in Research KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Descriptive Research: Assessing the Current State of Affairs
Correlational Research: Seeking Relationships Among Variables
Experimental Research: Understanding the Causes of Behavior Research Focus: Video Games and Aggression KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
You Can Be an Informed Consumer of Psychological Research Learning Objectives Threats to the Validity of Research Psychology in Everyday Life: Critically Evaluating the Validity of Websites KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Neurons Communicate Using Electricity and Chemicals Video Clip: The Electrochemical Action of the Neuron
Neurotransmitters: The Body’s Chemical Messengers KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
The Old Brain: Wired for Survival
The Cerebral Cortex Creates Consciousness and Thinking
Functions of the Cortex
The Brain Is Flexible: Neuroplasticity Research Focus: Identifying the Unique Functions of the Left and Right Hemispheres Using Split-Brain Patients Psychology in Everyday Life: Why Are Some People Left-Handed? KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Lesions Provide a Picture of What Is Missing
Recording Electrical Activity in the Brain
Peeking Inside the Brain: Neuroimaging Research Focus: Cyberostracism KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Electrical Control of Behavior: The Nervous System
The Body’s Chemicals Help Control Behavior: The Endocrine System KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Sensory Thresholds: What Can We Experience? Link
Measuring Sensation Research Focus: Influence without Awareness KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
The Sensing Eye and the Perceiving Visual Cortex
Perceiving Color
Perceiving Form
Perceiving Depth
Perceiving Motion Beta Effect and Phi Phenomenon KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Hearing Loss KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Experiencing Pain KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
How the Perceptual System Interprets the Environment Video Clip: The McGurk Effect Video Clip: Selective Attention
The Important Role of Expectations in Perception Psychology in Everyday Life: How Understanding Sensation and Perception Can Save Lives KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Sleep Stages: Moving Through the Night
Sleep Disorders: Problems in Sleeping
The Heavy Costs of Not Sleeping
Dreams and Dreaming KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Speeding Up the Brain With Stimulants: Caffeine, Nicotine, Cocaine, and Amphetamines
Slowing Down the Brain With Depressants: Alcohol, Barbiturates and Benzodiazepines, and Toxic Inhalants
Opioids: Opium, Morphine, Heroin, and Codeine
Hallucinogens: Cannabis, Mescaline, and LSD
Why We Use Psychoactive Drugs Research Focus: Risk Tolerance Predicts Cigarette Use KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Changing Behavior Through Suggestion: The Power of Hypnosis
Reducing Sensation to Alter Consciousness: Sensory Deprivation
Meditation Video Clip: Try Meditation Psychology in Everyday Life: The Need to Escape Everyday Consciousness KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
How the Environment Can Affect the Vulnerable Fetus KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
The Newborn Arrives With Many Behaviors Intact Research Focus: Using the Habituation Technique to Study What Infants Know
Cognitive Development During Childhood
Video Clip: Object Permanence
Social Development During Childhood
Knowing the Self: The Development of the Self-Concept
Video Clip: The Harlows’ Monkeys
Video Clip: The Strange Situation Research Focus: Using a Longitudinal Research Design to Assess the Stability of Attachment KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Physical Changes in Adolescence
Cognitive Development in Adolescence
Social Development in Adolescence
Developing Moral Reasoning: Kohlberg’s Theory
Video Clip: People Being Interviewed About Kohlberg’s Stages KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Physical and Cognitive Changes in Early and Middle Adulthood
Social Changes in Early and Middle Adulthood KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Cognitive Changes During Aging
Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
Social Changes During Aging: Retiring Effectively
Death, Dying, and Bereavement KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Pavlov Demonstrates Conditioning in Dogs
The Persistence and Extinction of Conditioning
The Role of Nature in Classical Conditioning KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
How Reinforcement and Punishment Influence Behavior: The Research of Thorndike and Skinner
Video Clip: Thorndike’s Puzzle Box
Creating Complex Behaviors Through Operant Conditioning KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Observational Learning: Learning by Watching
Video Clip: Bandura Discussing Clips From His Modeling Studies Research Focus: The Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Using Classical Conditioning in Advertising
Video Clip: Television Ads Psychology in Everyday Life: Operant Conditioning in the Classroom
Reinforcement in Social Dilemmas KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Video Clip: Kim Peek
Explicit Memory
Implicit Memory Research Focus: Priming Outside Awareness Influences Behavior
Stages of Memory: Sensory, Short-Term, and Long-Term Memory
Sensory Memory
Short-Term Memory KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Encoding and Storage: How Our Perceptions Become Memories Research Focus: Elaboration and Memory
The Structure of LTM: Categories, Prototypes, and Schemas
The Biology of Memory KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Source Monitoring: Did It Really Happen?
Schematic Processing: Distortions Based on Expectations
Misinformation Effects: How Information That Comes Later Can Distort Memory
Overconfidence
Heuristic Processing: Availability and Representativeness
Salience and Cognitive Accessibility
Counterfactual Thinking Psychology in Everyday Life: Cognitive Biases in the Real World KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
How We Talk (or Do Not Talk) about Intelligence How We Talk (or Do Not Talk) about Intelligence
General (g) Versus Specific (s) Intelligences
Measuring Intelligence: Standardization and the Intelligence Quotient
The Biology of Intelligence
Is Intelligence Nature or Nurture? Psychology in Everyday Life: Emotional Intelligence KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Extremes of Intelligence: Retardation and Giftedness
Extremely Low Intelligence
Extremely High Intelligence
Sex Differences in Intelligence
Racial Differences in Intelligence Research Focus: Stereotype Threat KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
The Components of Language Examples in Which Syntax Is Correct but the Interpretation Can Be Ambiguous
The Biology and Development of Language Research Focus: When Can We Best Learn Language? Testing the Critical Period Hypothesis
Learning Language
How Children Learn Language: Theories of Language Acquisition
Bilingualism and Cognitive Development
Can Animals Learn Language?
Video Clip: Language Recognition in Bonobos
Languageand Perception KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Captain Sullenberger Conquers His Emotions Captain Sullenberger Conquers His Emotions
Video Clip: The Basic Emotions
The Cannon-Bard and James-Lange Theories of Emotion Research Focus: Misattributing Arousal
Communicating Emotion KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
The Negative Effects of Stress
Stressors in Our Everyday Lives
Responses to Stress
Managing Stress
Emotion Regulation Research Focus: Emotion Regulation Takes Effort KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Finding Happiness Through Our Connections With Others
What Makes Us Happy? KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Eating: Healthy Choices Make Healthy Lives
Sex: The Most Important Human Behavior
The Experience of Sex
The Many Varieties of Sexual Behavior Psychology in Everyday Life: Regulating Emotions to Improve Our Health KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISE AND CRITICAL THINKING
Identical Twins Reunited after 35 Years Identical Twins Reunited after 35 Years
Personality as Traits Example of a Trait Measure
Situational Influences on Personality
The MMPI and Projective Tests Psychology in Everyday Life: Leaders and Leadership KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Psychodynamic Theories of Personality: The Role of the Unconscious
Id, Ego, and Superego Research Focus: How the Fear of Death Causes Aggressive Behavior
Strengths and Limitations of Freudian and Neo-Freudian Approaches
Focusing on the Self: Humanism and Self-Actualization Research Focus: Self-Discrepancies, Anxiety, and Depression KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Studying Personality Using Behavioral Genetics
Studying Personality Using Molecular Genetics
Reviewing the Literature: Is Our Genetics Our Destiny? KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
When Minor Body Imperfections Lead to Suicide When Minor Body Imperfections Lead to Suicide
Defining Disorder Psychology in Everyday Life: Combating the Stigma of Abnormal Behavior
Diagnosing Disorder: The DSM
Diagnosis or Overdiagnosis? ADHD, Autistic Disorder, and Asperger’s Disorder
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Autistic Disorder and Asperger’s Disorder KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Panic Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Dissociative Disorders: Losing the Self to Avoid Anxiety
Dissociative Amnesia and Fugue
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Explaining Anxiety and Dissociation Disorders KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Dysthymia and Major Depressive Disorder
Bipolar Disorder
Explaining Mood Disorders Research Focus: Using Molecular Genetics to Unravel the Causes of Depression KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Explaining Schizophrenia KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISE AND CRITICAL THINKING
Borderline Personality Disorder Research Focus: Affective and Cognitive Deficits in BPD
Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Somatoform and Factitious Disorders
Sexual Disorders
Disorders of Sexual Function
Gender Identity Disorder
Paraphilias KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Therapy on Four Legs Therapy on Four Legs
Psychodynamic Therapy Important Characteristics and Experiences in Psychoanalysis
Humanistic Therapies
Behavioral Aspects of CBT
Cognitive Aspects of CBT
Combination (Eclectic) Approaches to Therapy KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Drug Therapies
Using Stimulants to Treat ADHD
Antidepressant Medications
Antianxiety Medications
Antipsychotic Medications
Direct Brain Intervention Therapies KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Group, Couples, and Family Therapy
Self-Help Groups
Community Mental Health: Service and Prevention Some Risk Factors for Psychological Disorders Research Focus: The Implicit Association Test as a Behavioral Marker for Suicide KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISE AND CRITICAL THINKING
Effectiveness of Psychological Therapy ResearchFocus:Meta-AnalyzingClinicalOutcomes
Effectiveness of Biomedical Therapies
Effectiveness of Social-CommunityApproaches KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Binge Drinking and the Death of a Homecoming Queen Binge Drinking and the Death of a Homecoming Queen
Perceiving Others
Forming Judgments on the Basis of Appearance: Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination Implicit Association Test Research Focus: Forming Judgments of People in Seconds
Close Relationships
Causal Attribution: Forming Judgments by Observing Behavior
Attitudes and Behavior KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Helping Others: Altruism Helps Create Harmonious Relationships
Why Are We Altruistic?
How the Presence of Others Can Reduce Helping
Video Clip: The Case of Kitty Genovese
Human Aggression: An Adaptive y et Potentially Damaging Behavior
The Ability to Aggress Is Part of Human Nature
Negative Experiences Increase Aggression
Viewing Violent Media Increases Aggression
Video Clip Research Focus: The Culture of Honor
Conformity and Obedience: How Social Influence Creates Social Norms
Do We Always Conform? KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISES AND CRITICAL THINKING
Working in Front of Others: Social Facilitation and Social Inhibition
Working Together in Groups Psychology in Everyday Life: Do Juries Make Good Decisions?
Using Groups Effectively KEY TAKEAWAYS EXERCISE AND CRITICAL THINKING
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Hermann Ebbinghaus: The First Psychologist to Study Learning and Memory

Cognitive Skills and Study Methods
Sue du Plessis
January 7, 2023

Hermann Ebbinghaus became the first psychologist to systematically study learning and memory by carrying out a long, exhausting experiment on himself.

Philosophers such as John Locke and David Hume had argued that remembering involves association-linking things or ideas by shared characteristics, such as time, place, cause, or effect. Ebbinghaus decided to test the effect of association on memory, recording the results mathematically to see if memory follows verifiable patterns.

Brief biography

Hermann Ebbinghaus was born in German on January 24, 1850. In 1867 he went to the University of Bonn and somewhat later to Berlin and Halle. Although his initial interest was in history and philology, he was gradually drawn to philosophy.

When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, Ebbinghaus joined the Prussian Army. In the spring of 1871, however, he left the Army to continue his philosophical studies at Bonn. He completed his dissertation and received his PH.D. on August 16, 1873, passing his examination with distinction.

In 1885 he published Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology. He was made a professor the same year, probably in recognition of this publication.

In 1886, he established and opened an experimental psychology laboratory at the University of Berlin for psychological research and study purposes. In the years following, Ebbinghaus co-founded the Zeitschrift fur Psychology und Physiologie der Sinnersorgane (Journal of Psychology and Physiology of the Sense Organs) , a literary establishment often credited with the international advancement of psychological study.

Memory experiments

Ebbinghaus started by memorizing lists of words and testing how many he could recall. To avoid the use of association, he created 2,300 “nonsense syllables,” all three letters long and using the standard word format of consonant-vowel-consonant: for example, “ZUC” and “QAX.”

Grouping these into lists, he looked at each syllable for a fraction of a second, pausing for 15 seconds before going through a list again. He did this until he could recite a series correctly at speed. He tested different lengths and different learning intervals, noting the speed of learning and forgetting.

Ebbinghaus found that he could remember meaningful material, such as a poem, ten times more easily than his nonsense lists. He also noted that the more times the stimuli (the nonsense syllables) were repeated, the less time was needed to reproduce the memorized information. Also, the first few repetitions proved the most effective in memorizing a list.

When looking at his results for evidence of forgetting, Ebbinghaus found, unsurprisingly, that he tended to forget less quickly the lists that he had spent the most time memorizing and that recall is best performed immediately after learning.

Ebbinghaus also uncovered an unexpected pattern in memory retention. He found that there is typically a very rapid loss of recall in the first hour, followed by a slightly slower loss so that about 60 percent is forgotten after nine hours. After 24 hours, about two-thirds of anything memorized is forgotten. Plotted on a graph, this shows a distinct “forgetting curve” that starts with a sharp drop, followed by a shallow shape.

Limitations

There are several limitations to Ebbinghaus’s work on memory. The most important one was that Ebbinghaus was the only subject in his study. This limited the study’s generalizability to the population. Although he attempted to regulate his daily routine to maintain more control over his results, his decision to avoid the use of participants sacrificed the external validity of the study despite sound internal validity.

In addition, although he tried to account for his personal influences, there is an inherent bias when someone serves as the researcher as well as the participant.

Also, Ebbinghaus’s memory research halted research in other, more complex memory matters, such as semantic and procedural memory and mnemonics. Yet, Ebbinghaus’s research launched a new field of inquiry and helped establish psychology as a scientific discipline. His meticulous methods remain the basis of all psychological experimentation to this day.

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How Memory Works

Memory is the ongoing process of information retention over time. Because it makes up the very framework through which we make sense of and take action within the present, its importance goes without saying. But how exactly does it work? And how can teachers apply a better understanding of its inner workings to their own teaching? In light of current research in cognitive science, the very, very short answer to these questions is that memory operates according to a "dual-process," where more unconscious, more routine thought processes (known as "System 1") interact with more conscious, more problem-based thought processes (known as "System 2"). At each of these two levels, in turn, there are the processes through which we "get information in" (encoding), how we hold on to it (storage), and and how we "get it back out" (retrieval or recall). With a basic understanding of how these elements of memory work together, teachers can maximize student learning by knowing how much new information to introduce, when to introduce it, and how to sequence assignments that will both reinforce the retention of facts (System 1) and build toward critical, creative thinking (System 2).

Dual-Process Theory

Think back to a time when you learned a new skill, such as driving a car, riding a bicycle, or reading. When you first learned this skill, performing it was an active process in which you analyzed and were acutely aware of every movement you made. Part of this analytical process also meant that you thought carefully about why you were doing what you were doing, to understand how these individual steps fit together as a comprehensive whole. However, as your ability improved, performing the skill stopped being a cognitively-demanding process, instead becoming more intuitive. As you continue to master the skill, you can perform other, at times more intellectually-demanding, tasks simultaneously. Due to your knowledge of this skill or process being unconscious, you could, for example, solve an unrelated complex problem or make an analytical decision while completing it.

In its simplest form, the scenario above is an example of what psychologists call dual-process theory. The term “dual-process” refers to the idea that some behaviors and cognitive processes (such as decision-making) are the products of two distinct cognitive processes, often called System 1 and System 2 (Kaufmann, 2011:443-445). While System 1 is characterized by automatic, unconscious thought, System 2 is characterized by effortful, analytical, intentional thought (Osman, 2004:989).

Dual-Process Theories and Learning

How do System 1 and System 2 thinking relate to teaching and learning? In an educational context, System 1 is associated with memorization and recall of information, while System 2 describes more analytical or critical thinking. Memory and recall, as a part of System 1 cognition, are focused on in the rest of these notes.

As mentioned above, System 1 is characterized by its fast, unconscious recall of previously-memorized information. Classroom activities that would draw heavily on System 1 include memorized multiplication tables, as well as multiple-choice exam questions that only need exact regurgitation from a source such as a textbook. These kinds of tasks do not require students to actively analyze what is being asked of them beyond reiterating memorized material. System 2 thinking becomes necessary when students are presented with activities and assignments that require them to provide a novel solution to a problem, engage in critical thinking, or apply a concept outside of the domain in which it was originally presented.

It may be tempting to think of learning beyond the primary school level as being all about System 2, all the time. However, it’s important to keep in mind that successful System 2 thinking depends on a lot of System 1 thinking to operate. In other words, critical thinking requires a lot of memorized knowledge and intuitive, automatic judgments to be performed quickly and accurately.

How does Memory Work?

In its simplest form, memory refers to the continued process of information retention over time. It is an integral part of human cognition, since it allows individuals to recall and draw upon past events to frame their understanding of and behavior within the present. Memory also gives individuals a framework through which to make sense of the present and future. As such, memory plays a crucial role in teaching and learning. There are three main processes that characterize how memory works. These processes are encoding, storage, and retrieval (or recall).

Encoding . Encoding refers to the process through which information is learned. That is, how information is taken in, understood, and altered to better support storage (which you will look at in Section 3.1.2). Information is usually encoded through one (or more) of four methods: (1) Visual encoding (how something looks); (2) acoustic encoding (how something sounds); (3) semantic encoding (what something means); and (4) tactile encoding (how something feels). While information typically enters the memory system through one of these modes, the form in which this information is stored may differ from its original, encoded form (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014).

Retrieval . As indicated above, retrieval is the process through which individuals access stored information. Due to their differences, information stored in STM and LTM are retrieved differently. While STM is retrieved in the order in which it is stored (for example, a sequential list of numbers), LTM is retrieved through association (for example, remembering where you parked your car by returning to the entrance through which you accessed a shopping mall) (Roediger & McDermott, 1995).

Improving Recall

Retrieval is subject to error, because it can reflect a reconstruction of memory. This reconstruction becomes necessary when stored information is lost over time due to decayed retention. In 1885, Hermann Ebbinghaus conducted an experiment in which he tested how well individuals remembered a list of nonsense syllables over increasingly longer periods of time. Using the results of his experiment, he created what is now known as the “Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve” (Schaefer, 2015).

Through his research, Ebbinghaus concluded that the rate at which your memory (of recently learned information) decays depends both on the time that has elapsed following your learning experience as well as how strong your memory is. Some degree of memory decay is inevitable, so, as an educator, how do you reduce the scope of this memory loss? The following sections answer this question by looking at how to improve recall within a learning environment, through various teaching and learning techniques.

As a teacher, it is important to be aware of techniques that you can use to promote better retention and recall among your students. Three such techniques are the testing effect, spacing, and interleaving.

The testing effect . In most traditional educational settings, tests are normally considered to be a method of periodic but infrequent assessment that can help a teacher understand how well their students have learned the material at hand. However, modern research in psychology suggests that frequent, small tests are also one of the best ways to learn in the first place. The testing effect refers to the process of actively and frequently testing memory retention when learning new information. By encouraging students to regularly recall information they have recently learned, you are helping them to retain that information in long-term memory, which they can draw upon at a later stage of the learning experience (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014). As secondary benefits, frequent testing allows both the teacher and the student to keep track of what a student has learned about a topic, and what they need to revise for retention purposes. Frequent testing can occur at any point in the learning process. For example, at the end of a lecture or seminar, you could give your students a brief, low-stakes quiz or free-response question asking them to remember what they learned that day, or the day before. This kind of quiz will not just tell you what your students are retaining, but will help them remember more than they would have otherwise.
Spacing. According to the spacing effect, when a student repeatedly learns and recalls information over a prolonged time span, they are more likely to retain that information. This is compared to learning (and attempting to retain) information in a short time span (for example, studying the day before an exam). As a teacher, you can foster this approach to studying in your students by structuring your learning experiences in the same way. For example, instead of introducing a new topic and its related concepts to students in one go, you can cover the topic in segments over multiple lessons (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014).
Interleaving. The interleaving technique is another teaching and learning approach that was introduced as an alternative to a technique known as “blocking”. Blocking refers to when a student practices one skill or one topic at a time. Interleaving, on the other hand, is when students practice multiple related skills in the same session. This technique has proven to be more successful than the traditional blocking technique in various fields (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014).

As useful as it is to know which techniques you can use, as a teacher, to improve student recall of information, it is also crucial for students to be aware of techniques they can use to improve their own recall. This section looks at four of these techniques: state-dependent memory, schemas, chunking, and deliberate practice.

State-dependent memory . State-dependent memory refers to the idea that being in the same state in which you first learned information enables you to better remember said information. In this instance, “state” refers to an individual’s surroundings, as well as their mental and physical state at the time of learning (Weissenborn & Duka, 2000).
Schemas. Schemas refer to the mental frameworks an individual creates to help them understand and organize new information. Schemas act as a cognitive “shortcut” in that they allow individuals to interpret new information quicker than when not using schemas. However, schemas may also prevent individuals from learning pertinent information that falls outside the scope of the schema that has been created. It is because of this that students should be encouraged to alter or reanalyze their schemas, when necessary, when they learn important information that may not confirm or align with their existing beliefs and conceptions of a topic.
Chunking. Chunking is the process of grouping pieces of information together to better facilitate retention. Instead of recalling each piece individually, individuals recall the entire group, and then can retrieve each item from that group more easily (Gobet et al., 2001).
Deliberate practice. The final technique that students can use to improve recall is deliberate practice. Simply put, deliberate practice refers to the act of deliberately and actively practicing a skill with the intention of improving understanding of and performance in said skill. By encouraging students to practice a skill continually and deliberately (for example, writing a well-structured essay), you will ensure better retention of that skill (Brown et al., 2014).

For more information...

Brown, P.C., Roediger, H.L. & McDaniel, M.A. 2014. Make it stick: The science of successful learning . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Gobet, F., Lane, P.C., Croker, S., Cheng, P.C., Jones, G., Oliver, I. & Pine, J.M. 2001. Chunking mechanisms in human learning. Trends in Cognitive Sciences . 5(6):236-243.

Kaufman, S.B. 2011. Intelligence and the cognitive unconscious. In The Cambridge handbook of intelligence . R.J. Sternberg & S.B. Kaufman, Eds. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Osman, M. 2004. An evaluation of dual-process theories of reasoning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review . 11(6):988-1010.

Roediger, H.L. & McDermott, K.B. 1995. Creating false memories: Remembering words not presented in lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition . 21(4):803.

Schaefer, P. 2015. Why Google has forever changed the forgetting curve at work.

Weissenborn, R. & Duka, T. 2000. State-dependent effects of alcohol on explicit memory: The role of semantic associations. Psychopharmacology . 149(1):98-106.

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Why Ebbinghaus’ savings method from 1885 is a very ‘pure’ measure of memory performance

Jaap m. j. murre.

1 Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 15915, 1001 Amsterdam, NK Netherlands

Antonio G. Chessa

2 CBS – Statistics Netherlands, Department of Consumer Prices, P.O. Box 24500, 2490 The Hague, HA Netherlands

This paper analyzes the savings measures introduced by Ebbinghaus in his monograph of 1885. He measured memory retention in terms of the learning time saved in subsequent study trials relative to the time spent on the first learning trial. We prove mathematically that Ebbinghaus’ savings measure is independent of initial encoding strength, learning time, and relearning times. This theoretical model-free result demonstrates that savings is in a sense a very ‘pure’ measure of memory. Considering savings as an old-fashioned and unwieldy measure of memory may be unwarranted given this interesting property, which hitherto seems to have been overlooked. We contrast this with often used forgetting functions based on recall probability, such as the power function, showing that we should expect a lower forgetting rate in the initial portion of the curve for material that has been learned less well.

Introduction

It is hard to overestimate the importance of Hermann Ebbinghaus’ contribution to experimental psychology (Ebbinghaus, 1880 , 1885 , 1913/1885 ). In 1885, he published a monograph with a series of rigorous experiments on the basis of his habilitation’s thesis from 1880 on the shape of learning and forgetting. He introduced the use of nonsense syllables, which had more uniform characteristics than words or other verbal material, though verified his findings with more natural material such as poems. He was, furthermore, one of the first psychologists to make extensive use of statistics and mathematical modeling, notably fitting mathematical equations to his now famous forgetting curve.

Ebbinghaus ( 1913 ; we shall mainly refer to this early English translation, which is readily available) based nearly all of his experiments on the savings measure of learning and memory, which is defined as the relative amount of time saved on the second learning trial as a result of having had the first. So, if it takes only half the time to relearn a list, savings will be 0.5 (we use proportions here instead of percentages). If it takes exactly as long to relearn the list as it took to learn it originally, then savings is 0. If the list is still completely known at the second trial (i.e., no forgetting at all), then savings is 1. If we call savings after time t as Q ( t ), this can be summarized as:

Here, L is the time (or number of repetitions) needed to learn the material to criterion at t = 0 and L t is the time needed to relearn the material at time t .

The savings measure of learning and forgetting remained popular for several decades (Ammons et al., 1958 ; Boreas, 1930 ; Finkenbinder, 1913 ; Krueger, 1929 ; Radossawljewitsch, 1907 ), but is used only sporadically today (see https://osf.io/xtfnd for a data repository with savings data and curve fits). This is remarkable because many papers use Ebbinghaus’ classic savings data to test hypothesis about the shape of learning and forgetting (e.g., Anderson & Schooler, 1991 ; Rubin & Wenzel, 1996 ; Wixted & Ebbesen, 1991 ). Nelson ( 1985 ) summarizes several reasons why the savings measure was abandoned. First, there may be a relatively large learning-to-learn effect, because it takes a lot of experience with the nonsense syllable materials and the savings procedure to get used to them. During this time, performance continues to improve, simply because the subject is still getting used to the experimental method. Ebbinghaus realized this, which is why he spent a relatively long time learning and relearning lists before he started the actual experiment; we followed him in this in our replication of his classic forgetting curve (Murre & Dros, 2015 ). Second, savings scores may be unreliable when learning to once or twice correct, which had already been observed by Luh ( 1922 ). With learning to once correct, learning proceeds until the trial on which all nonsense syllables can be produced correctly (100% correct); with learning to twice correct, learning proceeds until two successive trials are 100% correct. This can be remedied by learning to a lower criterion, such as 80% or 50% correct. Third, the savings measure can only be interpreted on an interval scale if the underlying learning process proceeds in a linear fashion with learning trials or time. If not, it is not really possible to compare different magnitudes of the savings measure (Nelson, 1985 , p. 475). This is most troubling because if the underlying learning process is nonlinear and unknown, fitting a “forgetting curve” to savings data becomes meaningless (Wixted, 1990 ). As we shall see below, assuming a linear learning process for Ebbinghaus’ data seems warranted.

In this paper, we analyze the savings measure in more detail. Our analyses demonstrate that, unexpectedly, Ebbinghaus’ savings measure is an exceptionally good measure of memory, which in many ways is to be preferred above the more usual measures such as free or cued recall. In particular, we prove analytically that under many circumstances, savings is a “pure” retention measure: the shape of forgetting as measured through the savings method does not depend on the strength of the initial memory encoding or initial length of learning.

Analysis of Ebbinghaus’ Savings Measures

Savings experiments differ from other memory retention experiments in the role of learning time. In recall experiments, subjects typically learn items for some pre-established time, during which memory encoding is hypothesized to take place. In Ebbinghaus’ classical savings experiment, learning time is a running variable where subjects continue learning until a pre-set criterion has been reached (e.g., one perfect recitation or 80% correct). One implication of the difference between the classical savings and other types of memory measures is that recall always (also) takes place immediately after a learning trial in a savings experiment. This is necessary to assess the initial level of learning. One might suspect that leaving learning time a free variable leads to less controlled testing, but as we argue here, the opposite is true: The savings measure may well suffer from fewer confounding variables than recall or recognition measures.

In our analysis, we first derive the expression for Ebbinghaus’ classical savings measure. Let L and L t denote the learning times at the first and the second trial, respectively, which are separated by a retention lag t . Without loss of generalization, we assume that learning continues on both trials until the stimulus material can be fully recalled, rather than, say, to 80% correct. Learning, thus, continues until a certain “minimum memory strength” or “intensity” has been acquired that leads to successful recall. To make our line of reasoning easier to follow, we present two versions of our analyses, where the second one makes fewer assumptions than the first: (1) This analysis is based on a specific forgetting function and serves as an example for the next version. (2) Here, we show that the analysis of Version 1 can be generalized to all viable forgetting functions.

Analysis Based on Power Function Decline

We assume that learning proceeds until the memory trace has reached a strong enough intensity to produce learned behavior that meets the criterion (e.g., perfect recall of a list of words or nonsense syllables). We often denote memory intensity as μ where 0 ≤ μ ≤ 1. Without further addressing the theoretical implications of this here, we note that this assumes that for the purposes of our analyses it is meaningful to speak of the scalar-valued “intensity” of a memory trace. Another assumption – which we shall pursue in more detail below – is that intensity increases linearly with learning time L . After a delay of t time units (e.g., seconds or days or learning trials), the relearning time to reach the set criterion once again is denoted as L t . We assume for Version 1 of the proof that the original strength has declined with a power function to μ (1 + t ) − a , where a ≥ 0 is the forgetting parameter. During the relearning trial, the declined strength is increased through additional learning during L t seconds, giving an additional strength of νL t , denoting the learning rate as ν . This is a formal introduction of the linear learning assumption. Keeping in mind that μ = νL ,we now have:

We can rearrange this as:

But this is the expression for the savings measure Q ( t ), so we have:

In other words, if we assume power function decline of the underlying strength of a memory trace, the savings method will measure exactly this function, independently of the original memory strength.

Analysis Generalized to any Decline Function

The previous analysis can easily be generalized to any decline function f( t ), assuming that the original strength of the memory trace has declined to μ f( t ). We then have

We can summarize this result as follows: If there is some function f( t ) that describes the decline of the memory strength underlying memory performance as a function of time t , the savings method will directly measure this. Moreover, the savings method is completely independent of the initial learning strength and learning criterion: the observed savings-based forgetting curves should be the same for a criterion of 30%, 80%, or 100%. In this sense, the savings method is a “pure” measure of underlying memory strength.

Varying Initial Level of Learning

Ebbinghaus ( 1913 , Ch. VI) also includes an experiment where he systematically varied the initial level of learning by increasing the number of initial learning trials on the first day. After 24 h, he relearned until once successful recall and measured the learning time on the second day. In a similar manner as that described above, we can derive the expression for the expected relation between learning time on Day 1 and Day 2, as follows.

Suppose it would take L seconds to learn a list to some criterion (e.g., once correct) corresponding with a memory intensity of μ . Now, instead of learning to criterion, we learn for fewer seconds, L 1 < L, at Time 1. That is, we stop learning before we have reached the criterion. Then at Time 2, which takes place t seconds later (in Ebbinghaus’ case, 24 h later), we do learn until the criterion has been reached, this time taking L 2 seconds.

Assuming a linear learning process and an initial learning trial of L 1 seconds, this gives an initial intensity after learning on Day 1 of μ 1 = νL 1 , where ν is the learning rate. After t seconds have passed, the intensity will have declined as described by the forgetting function. Above, we found the forgetting function to be equivalent to the savings measure itself, Q ( t ). So, on Day 2 after t seconds have passed, we retain an intensity of νL 1 Q ( t ). This intensity must now be increased to reach the memory intensity μ corresponding to the criterion by doing additional learning trials for L 2 seconds. This gives an extra contribution to the intensity of νL 2 . We are interested in how L 2 depends on L 1 .

From this, we can derive the relationship between partial learning time L 1 and relearning time to criterion L 2 , where savings at time t is a non-free parameter :

This relationship is a simple linear one and we are able to predict this learning data without using any estimated parameters, as is shown below.

Table Table1 1 summarizes the mean relearning time as a function of the number of initial learning trials with only relearning until successful recall, as reported by Ebbinghaus ( 1913 , Ch. VI). In the first column of this table, we see that the mean relearning time after zero initial learning trials is equal to 1,270 s, which we use as an estimate for L . Because the stimulus material used in this experiment is the same as the lists used in Ebbinghaus’ classical savings experiment, for the 24-h data point, Ebbinghaus reports that Q ( t ) = 0.337, where t = 24 h after initial learning.

Relearning time in seconds until once correct recall on Day 2 as a function of a fixed number of initial learning trials on Day 1 (Ebbinghaus, 1913, Ch. VI)

Number of initial trials	0	8	16	24	32	42	53	64
Mean relearning time, s	1,270	1,167	1,078	975	863	697	585	454

Ebbinghaus ( 1913 , Ch. VI, p. 57) also reports that a repetition of a single 16-syllable series takes between 6.6 and 6.8 s. If we use an approximation of 6.7 s per list and noting there are six of such 16-syllable lists per repetition, then each repetition took about 40.2 s. The data and fit are shown in Fig. Fig.2. 2 . The predicted function coincides well with the data points, explaining 99.75% of the variance (sum of squared differences is 5963.64). Note that this function was not fitted to the data but based on separate values reported by Ebbinghaus. If we allow a shorter time than 6.7 s per list, we find that 6.38 s explains the same amount of variance but gives the lowest attainable sum of squared differences, namely 1,521.49. Given the excellent fit, one might argue that the assumption of a linearly increasing intensity with time is a reasonable one for Ebbinghaus’ data.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is 13423_2022_2172_Fig2_HTML.jpg

Power functions with a = 0.5 and two levels of initial intensity: μ = 1 (solid line) and μ = 0.25 (dashed line)

As we show above, Ebbinghaus’ classical savings function is independent of initial learning time and encoding strength and directly measures the underlying forgetting curve, assuming a learning process by which the memory intensity increases linearly with learning time. The fit of Ebbinghaus’ data relating initial learning time to relearning time in Fig. Fig.1 1 further illustrates this, explaining nearly 100% of the variance without any free parameters.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is 13423_2022_2172_Fig1_HTML.jpg

Varied levels of initial learning time L 1 versus relearning time L 2 to criterion after 24 h (Ebbinghaus, 1913, Ch. VI). The data are shown as diamonds. The predicted data are shown as a solid line

We should, perhaps, point out here that other measures of memory do not have this characteristic. For example, consider the power function, using probability of recall as a measure of memory: p ( t ) = μ (1 + t ), − a where μ is the initial intensity of the underlying learning process, which again is assumed to increase with learning time. If we take the first derivative of the forgetting function, we obtain the predicted initial forgetting rate for various levels of initial learning μ : p ′ ( t ) = − a (1 + t ) −1 − a μ . With various levels of initial learning at t = 0, we have p ′ (0) = − aμ . In other words, if there is a stronger initial memory (with higher μ ), there will be relatively higher forgetting rates at t = 0 (see Fig. Fig.2 2 for an illustration).

It can easily be shown that the same result obtains for other forms of the power function, or for the exponential function (Loftus, 1985 ). More generally, any forgetting function of shape p ( t ) = μ f( t ), where f( t ) is a function that does not itself depend on μ , will give the same result because of the standard “constant factor rule” for finding the derivative of a product of a constant and a function: p ′ ( t ) = f ′ ( t ) μ .If f(t) is a declining function, at t = 0, f ′ (0) = − a , for some positive constant a , so p ′ ( t ) = − aμ . This means that for a large class of functions, we predict a lower forgetting rate in the initial portion of the curve for material that has been learned less well. This is also intuitively understandable from the idea that the role of the μ parameter is to shrink (or stretch, up to probability 1) the entire curve along the vertical axis; shrinking implies flattening, implying in turn lower forgetting rates. Of course, it will depend on the exact nature of a particular forgetting function f( t ) how difficult it is to disentangle the effects of intensity (e.g., Wixted & Ebbesen, 1991 ). Our analysis of the relationship between learning and forgetting here is brief and incomplete. Indeed, there is a rich literature on this topic (Kauffman & Carlsen, 1989 ; Loftus, 1985 ; Slamecka & McElree, 1983 ; Yang et al., 2016 ) with ongoing experimentation and theorizing (Fisher & Radvansky, 2019 ; Radvansky et al., 2022 ; Rivera-Lares et al., 2022 ). We merely intend to illustrate that the savings measure cannot directly be compared with other measures of memory – for example, probability correct in cued recall – but that from a theoretical perspective it is expected to behave differently. In particular, from a theoretical perspective, its shape is independent of level of initial learning.

In conclusion, the savings measure introduced by Ebbinghaus (Ebbinghaus, 1880 , 1885 , 1913/1885 ) should not be regarded as old-fashioned and unwieldy. Among all memory retention measures proposed, it may be the purest one and worthy of renewed attention.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by NWO, the Netherlands Society for Scientific Research. We would like to thank Jeroen Raaijmakers for helpful comments.

Open Practices Statement

As mentioned in the text, additional materials (fits to classic savings data) are available at https://osf.io/xtfnd .

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Contributor Information

Jaap M. J. Murre, Email: moc.errum@paaj .

Antonio G. Chessa, Email: moc.oohay@assehcgoinotna .

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Ebbinghaus was a true pioneer in the area of research on memory and learning (Wozniak 1999).He developed the first scientific approach to the study of higher psychological processes and was the first psychologist who used nonsense syllables in learning and memory research. His experiments demonstrated that meaningless stimuli are more difficult to memorize than meaningful stimuli; his ...
Hermann Ebbinghaus and the Scientific Study of Memory
Ebbinghaus's memory experiments were groundbreaking in their application of scientific methodology to the study of memory. Challenging Wilhelm Wundt's belief that memory was not amenable to experimental study, Ebbinghaus used a series of over 2,300 nonsensical syllables, such as "tuy," "meb," and "vaz," to control for prior knowledge and ...
Ebbinghaus
Ebbinghaus's memory experiments lacked external validity and the capability to generalize its results, mostly because Ebbinghaus himself was the only experimental participant of them. However, in an era where the scientific view of psychology was not the predominant stance of the discipline, ...
Memory: a contribution to experimental psychology
The first scientific text on the psychology of memory, Hermann Ebbinghaus extended the province of systematic, experimental research to the higher mental processes. The first scientific text on the psychology of memory. Relating retention to repetition, describing the shape of the forgetting curve, and measuring strength of association, Hermann Ebbinghaus extended the province of systematic ...
Recalling Psychology's Past: The Memory Drum
Otto Lipmann (1880-1933), a student of Ebbinghaus, devised a way of moving the drum a certain amount in a stepping action so that the stimulus was held still for a fixed amount of time and then stepped out of sight. (Lipmann, 1904). It was Lipmann's device that Ralph Gerbrands at Harvard used as the basis for his memory drum, illustrated in ...
From Ebbinghaus to Encoding
By the 1960s, researchers were documenting complex encoding processes that transformed information as it was taken into memory. In this section of the chapter, we will start with early memory research and trace the evolution of assumptions into the computer era. The scientific study of memory started with the work of Hermann Ebbinghaus ...
PDF Memory; a contribution to experimental psychology
memory a contribution to experimental psychology by hermann ebbinghaus privat docent in philosophy at the university of berlin (1885) de subjecto vetustissimo novissimam promovemus scienttam" translated by henry a. ruger, pn.d. assistant professor of educational psychology, teachers college, columbia university and
Forgetting curve
The forgetting curve, with original data from Ebbinghaus. From 1880 to 1885, Hermann Ebbinghaus ran a limited, incomplete study on himself and published his hypothesis in 1885 as Über das Gedächtnis (later translated into English as Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology). [3] Ebbinghaus studied the memorisation of nonsense syllables, such as "WID" and "ZOF" (CVCs or Consonant ...
Using the Contributions of Hermann Ebbinghaus to Improve Your Memory
He discovered an important principle of memory: Memory decays rapidly at first, but the amount of decay levels off with time (Figure 8.9). Although Ebbinghaus looked at forgetting after days had elapsed, the same effect occurs on longer and shorter time scales. Bahrick (1984) 1 found that students who took a Spanish language course forgot about ...
Replication and Analysis of Ebbinghaus' Forgetting Curve
In all experiments reported by Ebbinghaus , he used only himself as a subject. Single-subject designs are not unusual in memory psychology. Especially in the study of autobiographical memory we find several diary studies based on one person's personal memories (e.g., [10,11,12]). They have the advantage that there is no inter-subject ...
Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology
Section 2. Memory in its Dependence. Along with this bare knowledge of the existence of memory and its effects, there is abundant knowledge concerning the conditions upon which depend the vitality of that inner survival as well as the fidelity and promptness of the reproduction.. How differently do different individuals behave in this respect! One retains and reproduces well; another, poorly.
Hermann Ebbinghaus: The First Psychologist to Study Learning and Memory
Memory experiments. Ebbinghaus started by memorizing lists of words and testing how many he could recall. To avoid the use of association, he created 2,300 "nonsense syllables," all three letters long and using the standard word format of consonant-vowel-consonant: for example, "ZUC" and "QAX." ...
Memory; a contribution to experimental psychology : Ebbinghaus, Hermann
Ebbinghaus, Hermann, 1850-1909. Publication date 1913 Topics Memory Publisher New York city, Teachers college, Columbia university Collection robarts; toronto Contributor Robarts - University of Toronto Language English Item Size 217.8M . Translation of Uber dea Gedächtnis 26
How Memory Works
Memory is the ongoing process of information retention over time. ... Using the results of his experiment, he created what is now known as the "Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve" (Schaefer, 2015). Figure 3: The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve. (Source: Schaefer, 2015) Through his research, Ebbinghaus concluded that the rate at which your memory (of ...
Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology.
In the realm of mental phenomena, experiment and measurement have hitherto been chiefly limited in application to sense perception and to the time relations of mental processes. By means of the following investigations we have tried to go a step farther into the workings of the mind and to submit to an experimental and quantitative treatment the manifestations of memory. The term, memory, is ...
Why Ebbinghaus' savings method from 1885 is a very 'pure' measure of
In recall experiments, subjects typically learn items for some pre-established time, during which memory encoding is hypothesized to take place. In Ebbinghaus' classical savings experiment, learning time is a running variable where subjects continue learning until a pre-set criterion has been reached (e.g., one perfect recitation or 80% correct).
Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology : Hermann Ebbinghaus
Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology by Hermann Ebbinghaus. Publication date 1913 Publisher Teachers College , Columbia University Collection americana Book from the collections of University of Michigan Language English Volume 3 Item Size 26.4M

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Hermann Ebbinghaus: The First Psychologist to Study Learning and Memory

Hermann Ebbinghaus became the first psychologist to systematically study learning and memory by carrying out a long, exhausting experiment on himself.

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Why Ebbinghaus’ savings method from 1885 is a very ‘pure’ measure of memory performance

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