which course of forgetting best describes the typical forgetting curve?

What is a typical forgetting curve?

The forgetting curve. Here is a plot of a typical forgetting curve. At the beginning your retention is 100% since this exactly the point in time when you actually learned the piece of information. As time goes on the retention drops sharply down to around 40% in the first couple of days.

Who was the first to study the forgetting behavior in science?

Hermann Ebbinghaus was the first to study the forgetting behavior in an experimental, scientific way. In his groundbreaking research he studied on himself the memorization and forgetting of nonsense three letter words.

What did Wilhelm Ebbinghaus discover about the forgetting curve?

He then analyzed all his recorded data to find the exact shape of the forgetting curve. He found that forgetting is exponential in nature. Ebbinghaus published his findings in 1885 in his book “Über das Gedächtnis (Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology)”.

What happens to the learning curve when memory gets stronger?

The stronger the memory the longer you are able to recall the information. Therefore the learning curve and the corresponding retention rate for that piece of information becomes flatter. This means that the interval for the next repetition becomes longer. For some information the interval can become several years.

What did Ebbinghaus do to find the forgetting curve?

Ebbinghaus performed a series of tests on himself over various time periods. He then analyzed all his recorded data to find the exact shape of the forgetting cur ve.

What happens to the learning curve when you have a stronger memory?

The stronger the memory the longer you are able to recall the information. Therefore the learning curve and the corresponding retention rate for that piece of information becomes flatter. This means that the interval for the next repetition becomes longer. For some information the interval can become several years.

How to improve memory?

What can you do to improve your memory? 1 Learn to connect new information with what you know already. Use memory hooks and other mnemonic devices to represent the new information in terms of already familiar concepts. 2 Activate the information in regular, spaced intervals. It is important that the recall is active, that is, you should not just re-read the new information but reply to a question about the new information. Like that your brain will be forced to activate the memory and to deepen the neural connections. 3 Use spaced repetitions. Spaced repetition (in particular spaced repetitions software) enables you to calculate the exact time when you profit most from a review: the time just before forgetting.

How does flashcard learner work?

Flashcard Learner implements an optimized learning algorithm for learning new information (Optimal Short Term Memory Learning). As you could see in the forgetting curve above the biggest decline in retention happens in the first 24 hours. Flashcard Learner uses a specialized algorithm, which postpones the forgetting significantly. Ordinarily you need to review the new information the same day as not to fall victim to the forgetting curve. With Flashcard Learner you will have about 80-90% retention the next day when using the Optimal Short Term Memory algorithm. Try it out. Flashcard Learner offers you also a random algorithm. Try both of them. See and feel the difference.