Forget. Today most people spend their lives making efforts to acquire new knowledge and skills, recording and coding different information to be retained in the memory, both consciously and unconsciously.

However, often we have to revise and practice what we have learned in order to keep it, or else it ends up fading away . Even though in some cases, such as traumatic events and depression, we may wish that this knowledge or memory disappears (which can also make us retain it even more in our memory), in most cases, forgetting it is totally involuntary.

Traditionally, a great deal of research on memory and its processes, including forgetting, has been carried out by psychology. One of the studies that initiated the study of forgetting was carried out by Hermann Ebbinghaus , who developed what is known as the forgetting curve.

What is oblivion?

The concept of forgetfulness refers to the loss of accessibility to the information previously processed in the memory, and this forgetfulness can occur in many different circumstances. Generally this phenomenon is due to deviations in attention, or the simple passage of time, although it is possible that forgetting occurs as a way of blocking a stressful situation or due to the presence of some type of disorder, whether organic or psychological.

Although at a conscious level it may seem annoying and undesirable, the ability to forget fulfills an adaptive function. Through forgetting we are able to eliminate from our brain the information and concepts that we do not need or use, so we ignore the details and circumstantial elements in order to allow us to focus on the core of the problem. When we remember a particular moment in our lives we do not usually remember in detail (except in very exceptional cases with photographic memory and/or situations of great emotion) all the stimuli that were present in that situation, but the main idea, because we have allowed the forgetting of the more contextual elements.

One of the first studies that were carried out regarding this phenomenon was the one that led to the elaboration of the forgetfulness curve, which has been later explained through different theories. Let’s proceed to explain how this forgetfulness curve was obtained and some of the explanatory theories derived from it .

Hermann Ebbinghaus and the Curve of Oblivion

The name of Hermann Ebbinghaus is well known within the world of psychology because of its wide importance in the study of memory. This famous German psychologist contributed greatly to the clarification and study of the different processes involved in the retention of information, as well as in the loss or forgetting of it.

His studies led him to carry out a series of experiments, with himself as the experimental subject, in which he worked from repetition to the memorization of series of syllables that were repeated until they were perfectly memorized, and later evaluating the level of retention of this material through time without carrying out any review of it.

Through the results of the experiments carried out, Ebbinghaus outlined the well-known forgetfulness curve, a graph that indicates how, when a certain material is memorized, the level of retention of the information learned decreases logarithmically over time. This forgetfulness curve was created by means of the saving method through which the time needed to relearn the list is subtracted from the time needed to learn it for the first time. Through this curve we can make a comparison between the material that is processed initially and the one that is kept in memory a. From the author’s perspective, this loss is due to the passage of time and the non-use of information.

The results of the experiments and their analysis on the forgetfulness curve indicate that after the moment of acquisition of the information the level of memorized material dropped drastically in the first moments, and more than half of the material learned during the first day could vanish from consciousness. After this, the material continues to fade, but the amount of information that is forgotten in a given time decreases to a point, approximately from the week of learning, where no further loss occurs. However, the material that is retained after this time is practically nil, so the time taken to re-learn it can be very similar to the initial one.

Some remarkable aspects that can be seen from the curve of oblivion is that, at all times, it takes less time to relearn a material than to learn it from scratch, even in the fragments that have faded from memory. Thus, this and other research by various authors help to show that in the process of forgetting, information does not fade from the mind, but rather passes to an unconscious level that allows its recovery through effort and review .

Explanations derived from Ebbinghaus’ theory

The forgetfulness curve is a graph that allows us to take into account the progressive loss of previously memorized material, as long as we do not practice reviewing this material.

From the observations that led to its realization, different theories have emerged that try to explain this loss, two of them being the following.

1. Footprint decay theory

The theory of the decay of the footprint is a theory developed by Ebbinghaus himself that aims to explain the curve of oblivion . For the author, the loss of information is mainly due to the little use given to such information, so that the memory trace left in our organism weakens and vanishes with the passage of time. At a biological level, it is considered that the neuronal structures end up losing the modifications that learning produces in them, which would return to a state similar to that prior to learning.

Research shows that memory decay occurs especially in short term memory, but if information manages to pass into long term memory it becomes permanent. If something stored in long-term memory is not accessible, the problem is mainly at the level of information retrieval.

However, this theory is criticized for not taking into account various factors, such as the appearance of new material that makes access to information difficult. In addition, there are many variables that influence the ability to remember, such as the amount of material to be remembered or the emotional significance of the information processed. Thus, the greater the amount of material, the greater the difficulty of maintaining it over time, and in the case that knowledge awakens strong sensations and emotions in the learner, it is easier for the memory to remain.

2. Interference theories

Several authors considered that the theory of the decline of the footprint was not sufficient to explain the process of forgetting. Taking into account that human beings are constantly learning new things, one element that these authors considered not to have been taken into account is the problems caused by the overlapping of new or old knowledge with the learned material.

This is how the interference theories came about, which state that the information to be learned is lost because other information interferes with access to it .

Such interference can occur either retroactively or proactively. In the case of proactive interference, prior learning makes it difficult to acquire a new one. Although it does not explain the forgetfulness itself, but a problem in coding the information. Retroactive interference is that which produces the presence of new knowledge that overlaps the material to be remembered. Thus, learning something new makes it difficult for us to remember the previous. This phenomenon would largely explain the loss of information that occurs on the forgetting curve.

How to avoid forgetting

The study of memory and forgetting has allowed the creation of different strategies and techniques in order to keep the learning in the memory. In order to avoid the effects observed in the forgetting curve, it is essential to review the material learned.

As experiments have already shown, repeated review of information makes learning more and more consolidated, progressively lowering the level of information loss over time.

The use of mnemonic strategies is also very useful , as it improves the capacity of mental representation. The aim is to make more efficient use of the resources available to the nervous system itself in order to group the information units more efficiently. Thus, even if the brain loses neurons and other important cells over time, those that remain can communicate more efficiently, retaining important information.

But even in cases where there is no significant brain damage, mnemonic techniques help us to mitigate the effects of the forgetfulness curve. The reason is that they help us to create stronger units of meaning, which we can reach by recalling a more varied range of experiences. For example, if we associate a word with a cartoon character that has a similar name, the chain of phonemes that forms that name will help us to remember what we want to remember.

In short, the forgetfulness curve is a universal phenomenon, but we have some room for manoeuvre when it comes to establishing what can make us forget and what cannot.

  • Related article: “11 Tips to Remember Better When Studying”

Conclusion: the limits of memory

Las investigaciones sobre la curva del olvido de Ebbinghaus permitieron obtener los primeros indicios científicos sobre los límites de la memorización, antes de que se pudiesen realizar experimentos al respecto en el campo de las neurociencias. Conocer estas limitaciones nos permite utilizar técnicas de aprendizaje más eficaces .

Referencias bibliográficas:

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