Forgetting and Other Memory Challenges

AP Psychology· difficulty 3/5

"Replication of nonsense-syllable retention." — Ebbinghaus (1885)

100% 50% 0% 0 1d 3d 30d Time since learning Retention over time

The shape of the curve illustrates which classic finding?

  • A

    Forgetting is uniform across intervals

  • B

    Forgetting is rapid initially then levels off

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  • C

    Forgetting accelerates linearly over time

  • D

    Memory improves with delay (reminiscence)

Explanation

Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve shows steep initial loss in the first hours/days followed by a flatter tail—the classic negatively accelerated decay function.

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