Replication and Analysis of Ebbinghaus' Forgetting Curve

Jaap M. J. Murre, Joeri Dros, Dante R. Chialvo
2015 PLoS ONE  
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
more » ... 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.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120644 pmid:26148023 pmcid:PMC4492928 fatcat:yjd3kj4tnnf53d2walhz7oz6ei