Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

Self-experiment with nonsense syllables charting memory loss: steep at first, then flattening, quantified from 1885.

Specifications & Metrics

type

Cognitive

year

1885

lead

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Core Principles & Analysis

• Ebbinghaus used himself as sole subject, relearning thousands of nonsense syllable lists over months.
• Savings fell steeply within hours and days, then leveled: most forgetting happens early.
• The 1885 monograph Über das Gedächtnis founded the experimental study of memory.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Forgetting curve