It is important to understand that memory is the foundation of all learning. In this lesson, you will begin to discover how your experiences become memories. When you hear, see, touch, taste, or smell something, your ability to use that information requires that you recall the experience—you must remember it.
Forgetting Curve
Demonstrates the percentage of information retained after given time intervals without reinforcement.
Without memory, you could not learn. Memory allows you to connect past experiences to current events. In school, your memories of what you learned in the past make it possible for you to learn new things today. Without memory, you could not remember how to tie your shoes, do a math problem, or read a book.
Some of the early research on memory focused on forgetting. Forgetting is not a failure of memory; it is the natural result of failing to reinforce a memory. The forgetting curve, first identified by researcher Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885, demonstrates that when a memory is not reinforced, forgetting begins within minutes of the experience, continues rapidly over the first hours, and then levels off after the first day or two.
Forgetting does not happen all at once and is not all bad. Scientists have learned that the brain removes or forgets some memories to make room for new information. Ebbinghaus was the first to discover and show that the brain retains memories that are repeated at spaced intervals. This understanding is the foundation for many learning strategies.
What does the forgetting curve represent?
- a process of deciding what memories are not worth storing
- information that just cannot be remembered
- the process of forgetting new information
- a selection of memories that are not relevant
The forgetting curve represents the process of forgetting new information.
The forgetting curve represents the process of forgetting new information.
The forgetting curve represents the process of forgetting new information.
The forgetting curve represents the process of forgetting new information.
According to the forgetting curve, how soon you will start to forget new information from a class lecture?
- within minutes
- within three hours
- withing twelve hours
- after a day or two
The forgetting curve indicates that you will begin to forget information within minutes after hearing it.
The forgetting curve indicates that you will begin to forget information within minutes after hearing it.
The forgetting curve indicates that you will begin to forget information within minutes after hearing it.
The forgetting curve indicates that you will begin to forget information within minutes after hearing it.
According to Ebbinghaus, how can memory be extended?
- by making the topic easy to understand
- by repeating it at spaced intervals
- by learning early in the day
- by connecting the memories to areas of interest
Information is remembered best when it is repeated at spaced intervals.
Information is remembered best when it is repeated at spaced intervals.
Information is remembered best when it is repeated at spaced intervals.
Information is remembered best when it is repeated at spaced intervals.
Even without memory, you can still learn.
- True
- False
For something to be learned, it must be remembered.
For something to be learned, it must be remembered.
Summary
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