What is the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve?

German psychologist Ebbinghaus (Research found that forgetting begins immediately after learning, and the process of forgetting is not uniform. Forgetting is fast at first, and gradually slows down later. He believed that retention and forgetting were a function of time, and based on the results of his experiments, he drew a curve describing the process of forgetting, the famous Ebbinghaus memory forgetting curve.

The process of forgetting is uneven, with a tendency to be faster and then slower, more and then less, with a negative acceleration, and to a certain extent almost no longer forgotten.

Ebbinghaus. The study found that forgetting begins immediately after learning, and the process of forgetting is not uniform. Forgetting is fast at first, and gradually slows down later.

In the process of learning, the process of learning a material after it has been memorized once and then it is completely correct, and then continuing to learn, is called overlearning. Proper over-learning can keep the learned material better.

The results show that the learning effect is best when the over-learning reaches 50, that is, the learning proficiency reaches 150. If the proficiency level of learning exceeds 150%, the phenomenon of "diminishing returns" will occur due to learning fatigue, and the effect of learning will gradually decline, and negative effects such as distraction, boredom, and fatigue will appear.

The factors that affect the forgetting process are as follows:

1) The time factor. Forgetting begins immediately after learning, and the process of forgetting progresses quickly at first and gradually slows down over time.

2) Recognize the nature and quantity of materials. It is generally believed that the forgetting of unskilled gestures and figurative materials is slow, and that meaningless materials are forgotten much faster than meaningful materials; In the case of equal spring in the learning process, the more materials you memorize, the faster you forget, and the less materials you forget, the slower you forget.

3) The degree of learning. It is generally believed that the recognition of material does not meet the standard of error-free memorization once, and it is called low-level learning material; If you continue to study for a period of time after you have reached the level of recitation, this kind of material is called over-learning material. Experiments have shown that low-level learning materials are easy to forget, and over-learning materials have better memorization effect than materials that can be memorized.

4) Recognize the serial position of the material. It has been found that there is a certain regularity in the order of recollection when recalling a series of materials. The final presentation of the material is the easiest to recall and the least forgotten, which is called the proximity effect.

The first material presented is easier to recall and less forgotten, which is called the first cause effect.

5) Know the attitude of journalists. The need and interest of the journalist in the actual material also have a certain impact on the speed of forgetting.

After minutes, 42% were forgotten and 58% were remembered.

After hours, 56% were forgotten and 44% were remembered.

74% were forgotten and 26% were remembered.

weeks later, 77% forgotten and 23% remembered.

After a few months, 79% were forgotten and 21% were remembered.

The expedition began with memory, and most of the content was forgotten after one day, but the forgetting rate became more gradual after one day. However, Ebbinghaus's experiments used meaningless letter combinations, so the accusation that his experiments were not comparable and referential in relation to meaningful words also existed. Moreover, there is no distinction between possible forgetting and complete forgetting.

This curve tells people that forgetting in learning is regular, the process of forgetting is not balanced, not fixed, a few are lost in a day, it is similar to the ten meditations, but in reality, everyone's forgetting speed is very different, the reason is that everyone has a different understanding of information.

However, other scientists have found that age does not affect the rate of forgetting. Although people's memory ability will decline as they age, which means that the information that the elderly can remember will be relatively reduced, once the information has been remembered, the elderly will not forget the information faster than the younger ones.

Personalize. <>

The above-mentioned Ebbinghaus memory song is a liquid ant line.

It is a kind of curve generated by Ebbinghaus after a large number of tests in the laboratory to produce different memory data, which is a common group law. This memory curve does not take into account the personality traits of the individual being tested, but seeks a memory pattern that is at a balanced point.

However, the laws of memory can be specific to each of us, because our physiological characteristics and life experiences are different, which may lead to our different memory habits, memory methods, and memory characteristics.

The law can only play a catalytic role in the behavior of natural people to transform the world, if it coincides with the memory characteristics of each person, then it is like sailing with the water, a thousand miles a day; If it is contrary to the characteristics of personal memory, the memory effect will be greatly reduced.

The process of forgetting is uneven, in the initial forgetting of memorization is very fast, and then gradually slows down, and when it reaches a considerable amount of time for memorization, it is almost no longer forgotten, that is, the development of forgetting is "fast first and then slow".

After minutes, 42% were forgotten and 58% were remembered.

2. After 1 hour, 56% were forgotten and 44% were remembered.

After days, 74% are forgotten and 26% are remembered.

weeks later, 77% forgotten and 23% remembered.

After a few months, 79% were forgotten and 21% were remembered.

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve.

The retention of memory is different in time, and there are two types of memory: short-term memory and long-term memory. The process of ordinary memory is: after the input information is learned through the process of human attention, it becomes a person's short-term memory, and then becomes a long-term memory after further strengthening.

Long-term memory can be kept for a long time, and if it is not reviewed in time, these remembered things will be forgotten, and after timely review, long-term memory will continue to be maintained.

So, for us, what is called forgetting, the so-called forgetting is that we can no longer recognize and recall the things we have remembered, or we can recognize and recall the wrong ones, these are all forgetting.

Benefit. Ebbinghaus mnemonics.

The memorization of any learning material is effective, which can greatly improve the memory efficiency and receive twice the memory effect with half the effort.

Memory is not the final goal, it is only a means, and the purpose of memory is to recognise and solve problems.

If you want to consolidate what you have learned, you must review it in time; If you want to know the effect of memory, you should always take a self-test, which is also a good way to review, and it is a specific application of the Ebbinghaus mnemonics.