The Forgetting Curve: Why We Keep Forgetting

Have you ever experienced teaching a skill and when you bring it up again, students act like they have never heard it? 

Annoying, right?

Or, you begin to build upon learning students were supposed to have mastered last year, and THEY SWEAR they NEVER were taught it?

Frustrating, right? 

Well, it turns out.....your students might be telling you the truth.  

They might really have forgotten.

Over 100 years ago, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus wanted to understand more about memory, why we forget and what we can do to prevent it. 

So, he conducted a study, using himself as the subject.  

He presented himself with a list of nonsense CVC words (i.e. dok, bov ) and attempted to recall those nonsense words over different lengths of time.

Ebbinghaus discovered that when you first learn something, the information disappears at an exponential rate without retention.  

According to Ebbinghaus's research you lose 50% of all information within a day and 90% of all new information within a week (Virtanen, 2023).  

Check out this short video from Growth Engineering, which does a fantastic job describing the forgetting curve!  This would be a great video to share with administrators and fellow teachers.

Over the years, many researchers have replicated Ebbinghaus's study to see if his findings were accurate.  

AND.....all studies reached the same conclusion Ebbinghaus did.  The forgetting curve is real, folks! 

So what were the findings Ebbinghaus discovered about knowledge retention?  The four key takeaways are:

1. Relevancy  

• Memories are stronger when an individual has an interest in the information being presented.

2. Time

• The biggest drop in retention happens soon after learning.  Learners will forget an average of 90% of new information within the first seven days.

 

3. Presentation 

• The way information is presented matters.  Make learning logical and clear.

4. Feelings

• Physiological factors (such as sleep and stress) influence how well we retain information.  

We know the forgetting curve is real.

We know brains are hard wired to get rid of any information they don't deem necessary for survival.

So, as educators, how do we combat the forgetting curve?  How do we help our students' memory? 

Check out the next post in the series, to answer just that! 

References

Virtanen, A. (2023, February 23). What is the forgetting curve and how can you combat it?. Growth Engineering. https://www.growthengineering.co.uk/what-is-the-forgetting-curve/#:~:text=Ebbinghaus%20discovered%20that%20reviewing%20new,help%20it%20to%20become%20stronger.