Final answer:
Forgetting occurs least rapidly when individuals sleep, due to the protective effects of memory consolidation that occur during sleep. Various techniques such as elaborative rehearsal, mnemonic devices, and distributed practice can also enhance memory retention from short-term to long-term storage.
Step-by-step explanation:
Two individuals participating in a study learned nonsense syllables and were then asked to recall them after a period of up to eight hours. The research by Jenkins and Dallenbach found that forgetting was least when the individuals were sleeping. This finding aligns with Herman Ebbinghaus's discovery of the forgetting curve, which suggests that memory declines rapidly within the first few hours after learning. Sleep appears to protect against this decay, likely due to the brain's role in memory consolidation during sleep.
To further support memory retention, techniques such as elaborative rehearsal, the self-reference effect, and distributed practice are recommended. Elaborative rehearsal involves deeply processing information by linking it to other information or personal experiences, making it more memorable.
In addition to getting adequate sleep, other strategies for enhancing memory include the use of mnemonic devices, rehearsal, expressive writing, and making study material personally meaningful and contextual. This improves the chances of transferring information from short-term to long-term memory.