One of the things that Ebbinghaus discovered would not come as a surprise to any student who had ever tried cramming the night before an exam. After studying for a few days, we forget about 75% of what we studied. However, there was one thing he found that could overcome this rapid forgetting curve: learning something again, often enough. By repeating information over several sessions, we can improve our memory of that information. And things that are repeated frequently are easier to remember.
As well as lists, Ebbinghaus tested the efficiency of his memory by learning lists of three-letter meaningless syllables. He found he was not able to recall them just as well as if they were meaningful words, proving that the mind does not simply store and retrieve data mechanically, but rather goes through an active process of trying to make connections between what we see and hear. Our brains work hard to translate the sights and sounds around us into meaningful ideas, so that information can be better recalled later.
