Question

Ebbinghaus discovered that the rate at which we forget newly learned information is initially ___

a. slow and subsequently speeds up.
b. rapid and subsequently slows down.
c. slow and subsequently stays slow.
d. rapid and subsequently stays rapid.

Answer 1

Ebbinghaus's research revealed that the forgetting rate of new information starts off rapid and then slows down over time.

Step-by-step explanation:

Ebbinghaus discovered that the rate at which we forget newly learned information is initially rapid and subsequently slows down. This observation is encapsulated in what is known as the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve.

The Ebbinghaus forgetting curve demonstrates that after initially learning information, there is a steep drop in memory retention, with 50% of information being forgotten after 20 minutes and 70% after 24 hours. However, after this precipitous decline, the rate of forgetting levels out, indicating that the memory decay stabilizes over time. This suggests that once information has survived the initial rapid forgetting phase, it has a greater likelihood of being retained in the long-term memory store where it can be consolidated more robustly.