Replication and Analysis of Ebbinghaus' Forgetting Curve

PLoS One. 2015 Jul 6;10(7):e0120644. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120644. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

We present a successful replication of Ebbinghaus' classic forgetting curve from 1880 based on the method of savings. One subject spent 70 hours learning lists and relearning them after 20 min, 1 hour, 9 hours, 1 day, 2 days, or 31 days. The results are similar to Ebbinghaus' original data. We analyze the effects of serial position on forgetting and investigate what mathematical equations present a good fit to the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve and its replications. We conclude that the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve has indeed been replicated and that it is not completely smooth but most probably shows a jump upwards starting at the 24 hour data point.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Learning*
  • Memory*

Grants and funding

This experiment was conducted as an employee (JM) and student (JD) of the University of Amsterdam. The authors received no specific funding for this work.