Final answer:
According to Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve, the majority of forgetting occurs immediately after learning, particularly within the first 20 minutes to 24 hours. This illustrates the rapid decline in memory retention that levels off over time, a process significantly affected by storage decay. The correct option is a) Immediately
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve, most forgetting takes place immediately after learning new information, that is, within the first 20 minutes to 24 hours after exposure to new material. Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist, conducted an experiment in 1885 where he memorized lists of nonsense syllables and later measured how much he retained over different time intervals.
His findings demonstrated that an average person will lose 50% of the memorized information after 20 minutes and 70% after 24 hours due to what's known as storage decay. The curve shows a rapid decline in memory retention immediately after learning which then levels out over time.
This process reflects how our short-term memory operates with memory trace decay and factors such as interference affecting the retention of information.
Short-term memory can last from 15 to 30 seconds, and information in this type of memory can either transition into long-term memory or be forgotten. Ebbinghaus's work is fundamental in the understanding of how memory functions and provides insight into the natural decline of memory retention over time. The correct option is a) Immediately