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Hermann Ebbinghaus

Hermann Ebbinghaus was best known for pioneering the study of memory. He discovered the forgetting curve and the space effect. His most famous method of studying memory was the “nonsense syllables” method. Ebbinghaus would write down hundreds of random consonants and spend his time trying to memorize thousands of nonsense syllables he made up.

Introduction: Hermann Ebbinghaus was the first psychologist to research learning and memory. By using John Locke and David Hume’s theory on the relationship between association and memory, he conducted an experiment on himself. Ebbinghaus’s experiment included memorizing a list of words, avoiding association by implementing “nonsense syllables”: consonant-vowel-consonant. His method was to memorize the list of syllables, pause for 15 seconds, and recite them at a constant speed. 

As a result, he found that the more time spent on memorizing, the less quickly it was forgotten and that remembrance is more effective right after studying the information. Ebbinghaus also found that knowledge is quickly lost within the first hour, then moderately 60% in 9 hours, and two-thirds in 24 hours. This is called the forgetting curve. His discovery has influenced scientific discipline and his memory methods have become the “basis of psychological experimentation”.

Ebbinghaus’s Contributions To Science: He was born in Germany to a Lutheran family. At age 17, he began studies of philosophy at Bonn University, but his education was paused due to the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Once he completed his studies he relocated to Berlin, France, and England where he continued to research the power of his own memory, starting in 1879. Hermann Ebbinghaus is best known for pioneering the study of memory. He engineered the learning curve and the space effect, using his “nonsense syllables” method. Ebbinghaus would write down hundreds of random consonants and vowels while spending time trying to memorize them. He did experiments like this his whole life, creating and memorizing thousands of nonsense words he made up. This experiment was published in 1885 and was only the start of his career.

Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCsQHe-NpaM

Who was the test subject in Hermann Ebbinghaus experiment on memory?

When was the Franco-Prussian war?

How did Ebbinghaus avoid word association in this experiment? What method did he come up with?

Why was this experiment so important? Why do we still care today?

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