Hermann Ebbinghaus

Hermann Ebbinghaus (24 January 1850 – 26

February 1909) was a German psychologist who Hermann Ebbinghaus
pioneered the experimental study of memory.
Ebbinghaus discovered the forgetting curve and the
spacing effect. He was the first person to describe the
learning curve. He was the father of the neo-Kantian
philosopher Julius Ebbinghaus.

Early life
Ebbinghaus was born in Barmen, in the Rhine
Province of the Kingdom of Prussia, as the son of a
wealthy merchant, Carl Ebbinghaus. Little is known
about his infancy except that he was brought up in the
Lutheran faith and was a pupil at the town
Gymnasium. At the age of 17 (1867), he began Born 24 January 1850
attending the University of Bonn, where he had Barmen, Rhine Province,
planned to study history and philology. However, Kingdom of Prussia
during his time there he developed an interest in Died 26 February 1909 (aged 59)
philosophy. In 1870, his studies were interrupted when Halle, German Empire
he served with the Prussian Army in the Franco- Known for Serial position effect
Prussian War. Following this short stint in the military,
Scientific career
Ebbinghaus finished his dissertation on Eduard von
Hartmann's Philosophie des Unbewussten (philosophy Fields Psychology
of the unconscious) and received his doctorate on 16 Institutions University of Berlin
August 1873, when he was 23 years old. During the University of Breslau
next three years, he spent time at Halle and Berlin.[1] University of Halle

Professional career
After acquiring his PhD, Ebbinghaus moved around England and France, tutoring students to support
himself. In England, he may have taught in two small schools in the south of the country (Gorfein, 1885).
In London, in a used bookstore, he came across Gustav Fechner's book Elemente der Psychophysik
(Elements of Psychophysics), which spurred him to conduct memory experiments. After beginning his
studies at the University of Berlin, he founded the third psychological testing lab in Germany (third to
Wilhelm Wundt and Georg Elias Müller).[2] He began his memory studies here in 1879. In 1885 — the
same year that he published his monumental work, Über das Gedächtnis. Untersuchungen zur
experimentellen Psychologie, later published in English under the title Memory: A Contribution to
Experimental Psychology[3] — he was made a professor at the University of Berlin, most likely in
recognition of this publication. In 1890, along with Arthur König, he founded the psychological journal
Zeitschrift für Physiologie und Psychologie der Sinnesorgane ("The Psychology and Physiology of the
Sense Organs'").

In 1894, he was passed over for promotion to head of the philosophy department at Berlin, most likely
due to his lack of publications. Instead, Carl Stumpf received the promotion. As a result of this,
Ebbinghaus left to join the University of Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland), in a chair left open by Theodor
Lipps (who took over Stumpf's position when he moved to Berlin).[2] While in Breslau, he worked on a
commission that studied how children's mental ability declined during the school day. While the specifics
on how these mental abilities were measured have been lost, the successes achieved by the commission
laid the groundwork for future intelligence testing.[4]: 207 At Breslau, he again founded a psychological
testing laboratory.

In 1902, Ebbinghaus published his next piece of writing entitled Die Grundzüge der Psychologie
(Fundamentals of Psychology). It was an instant success and continued to be long after his death. In 1904,
he moved to Halle where he spent the last few years of his life. His last published work, Abriss der
Psychologie (Outline of Psychology) was published six years later, in 1908. This, too, continued to be a
success, being re-released in eight different editions.[4]: 208 Shortly after this publication, on 26 February
1909,[2] Ebbinghaus died from pneumonia at the age of 59.

Research on memory
Ebbinghaus was determined to show that higher mental processes
could actually be studied using experimentation, which was in
opposition to the popularly held thought of the time. To control for
most potentially confounding variables, Ebbinghaus wanted to use
simple acoustic encoding and maintenance rehearsal for which a
list of words could have been used. As learning would be affected
by prior knowledge and understanding, he needed something that
could be easily memorized but which had no prior cognitive
associations. Easily formable associations with regular words Figure 2 from Ebbinghaus' Über das
Gedächtnis. Ebbinghaus ran a
would interfere with his results, so he used items that would later
series of 92 tests. In each test, he
be called "nonsense syllables" (also known as the CVC trigram). A gave the subject 8 blocks of 13
nonsense syllable is a consonant-vowel-consonant combination, random syllables each, and plotted
where the consonant does not repeat and the syllable does not the average time taken for the
have prior meaning. BOL (sounds like "Ball") and DOT (already a subject to memorize the block.
word) would then not be allowed. However, syllables such as
DAX, BOK, and YAT would all be acceptable (though Ebbinghaus
left no examples). After eliminating the meaning-laden syllables, Ebbinghaus ended up with 2,300
resultant syllables.[3] Once he had created his collection of syllables, he would pull out a number of
random syllables from a box and then write them down in a notebook. Then, to the regular sound of a
metronome, and with the same voice inflection, he would read out the syllables, and attempt to recall
them at the end of the procedure. One investigation alone required 15,000 recitations.
It was later determined that humans impose meaning even on
nonsense syllables to make them more meaningful. The nonsense
syllable PED (which is the first three letters of the word "pedal")
turns out to be less nonsensical than a syllable such as KOJ; the
syllables are said to differ in association value.[5] It appears that
Ebbinghaus recognized this, and only referred to the strings of Figure 4 from Über das Gedächtnis.
The same test with 9 blocks of 12
syllables as "nonsense" in that the syllables might be less likely to
syllables each. This shows an
have a specific meaning and he should make no attempt to make oscillating pattern.
associations with them for easier retrieval.[3]

Limitations
There are several limitations to his work on memory. The most
important one was that Ebbinghaus was the only subject in his
study. This limited the study's generalizability to the population.
Although he attempted to regulate his daily routine to maintain
more control over his results, his decision to avoid the use of
participants sacrificed the external validity of the study despite
sound internal validity. In addition, although he tried to account
for his personal influences, there is an inherent bias when
someone serves as researcher as well as participant. Also,
Ebbinghaus's memory research halted research in other, more
complex matters of memory such as semantic and procedural
memory and mnemonics.[6]
Figure 6 from Über das Gedächtnis.
Contributions Ebbinghaus found that he could
recite 6-8 random syllables correctly
In 1885, he published his groundbreaking Über das Gedächtnis after only one reading, but not more
("On Memory", later translated to English as Memory. A than 8. So he studied how many
Contribution to Experimental Psychology) in which he described repetitive readings it takes for a
experiments he conducted on himself to describe the processes of subject to memorize more syllables.
This is plotted in the graph. The x-
learning and forgetting.
axis is number of syllables and the
y-axis is the number of required
Ebbinghaus made several findings that are still relevant and
repetitive readings for memorizing.
supported to this day. First, Ebbinghaus made a set of 2,300 three
letter syllables to measure mental associations that helped him
find that memory is orderly. Second, and arguably his most famous finding, was the forgetting curve. The
forgetting curve describes the exponential loss of information that one has learned.[7] The sharpest
decline occurs in the first twenty minutes and the decay is significant through the first hour. The curve
levels off after about one day.

The learning curve described by Ebbinghaus refers to how fast one learns information. The sharpest
increase occurs after the first try and then gradually evens out, meaning that less and less new information
is retained after each repetition. Like the forgetting curve, the learning curve is exponential. Ebbinghaus
had also documented the serial position effect, which describes how the position of an item affects recall.
The two main concepts in the serial position effect are recency and primacy. The recency effect describes
the increased recall of the most recent information because it is still
in the short-term memory. The primacy effect causes better memory
of the first items in a list due to increased rehearsal and commitment
to long-term memory.

Another important discovery is that of savings. This refers to the

amount of information retained in the subconscious even after this
information cannot be consciously accessed. Ebbinghaus would
memorize a list of items until perfect recall and then would not access
the list until he could no longer recall any of its items. He then would A typical representation of the
relearn the list, and compare the new learning curve to the learning forgetting curve
curve of his previous memorization of the list. The second list was
generally memorized faster, and this difference between the two
learning curves is what Ebbinghaus called "savings". Ebbinghaus also described the difference between
involuntary and voluntary memory, the former occurring "with apparent spontaneity and without any act
of the will" and the latter being brought "into consciousness by an exertion of the will".

Prior to Ebbinghaus, most contributions to the study of memory were undertaken by philosophers and
centered on observational description and speculation. For example, Immanuel Kant simply described
recognition and its components. On the other hand,Sir Francis Bacon claimed that the simple observation
of the rote recollection of a previously learned list wasn't useful to understanding memory. This
dichotomy between descriptive and experimental study of memory would resonate later in Ebbinghaus's
life, particularly in his public argument with former colleague Wilhelm Dilthey. However, more than a
century before Ebbinghaus, Johann Andreas Segner invented the "Segner-wheel" and would use both by
seeing how fast a wheel with a hot coal attached had to move for the red ember circle from the coal to
appear complete (see iconic memory). He proceeded to view the length of the after images.

Ebbinghaus's effect on memory research was almost immediate. With very few works published on
memory in the previous two millennia, Ebbinghaus's works spurred memory research in the United States
in the 1890s, with 32 papers published in 1894 alone. This research was coupled with the growing
development of mechanized mnemometers (an outdated mechanical device used for presenting a series of
stimuli to be memorized).[8]

The reaction to his work in his day was mostly positive. Psychologist William James called the studies
"heroic" and said that they were "the single most brilliant investigation in the history of psychology".
Edward B. Titchener also mentioned that the studies were the greatest undertaking in the topic of memory
since Aristotle.

Research on cramming
Ebbinghaus is the first person to compare distributed learning to cramming[9] and one of the first people
to carry out research on cramming.[10]

Sentence completion, illusion and research report standardization

Ebbinghaus pioneered sentence completion exercises, which he developed in studying the abilities of
schoolchildren. Alfred Binet borrowed and incorporated them into the Binet-Simon intelligence scale.
Sentence completion was used extensively in memory research, especially in measuring implicit memory,
and in psychotherapy to help find patients' motivations. He influenced Charlotte Bühler, who studied
language meaning and society.

Ebbinghaus discovered an optical illusion now known as the

Ebbinghaus illusion, based on relative size perception. Despite the
large amount of research done on this and similar illusions, little is
known about why it occurs, but many speculate. During the illusion,
two circles of identical size are placed near each other. One is
surrounded by large circles while the other is surrounded by small
circles, making the first appear smaller. Factors such as the different The Ebbinghaus Illusion. The
illustrations around the circles are called inducers and targets. Many orange circles appear to be of
theorists and scholars believe one of the main reasons for the illusions different sizes, despite their
occurring are the geometrical features surrounding the spheres. This being equal.
illusion is now used extensively in cognitive psychology research, to
help map perception pathways in the human brain.

Ebbinghaus drafted the first standard research report. He arranged his paper on memory into four
sections: the introduction, the methods, the results, and the discussion. The clear organization of this
format so impressed his contemporaries that it became standard in the discipline.

Discourse on the nature of psychology

In addition to pioneering experimental psychology, Ebbinghaus was also a strong defender of this
direction of the new science, as is illustrated by his public dispute with University of Berlin colleague,
Wilhelm Dilthey. Shortly after Ebbinghaus left Berlin in 1893, Dilthey published a paper extolling the
virtues of descriptive psychology, and condemning experimental psychology as boring, claiming that the
mind was too complex, and that introspection was the desired method of studying the mind. The debate at
the time had been primarily whether psychology should aim to explain or understand the mind and
whether it belonged to the natural or human sciences. Many had seen Dilthey's work as an outright attack
on experimental psychology, Ebbinghaus included, and he responded to Dilthey with a personal letter and
also a long scathing public article. Amongst his counterarguments against Dilthey he mentioned that it is
inevitable for psychology to do hypothetical work and that the kind of psychology that Dilthey was
attacking was the one that existed before Ebbinghaus's "experimental revolution". Charlotte Bühler
echoed his words some forty years later, stating that people like Ebbinghaus "buried the old psychology
in the 1890s". Ebbinghaus explained his scathing review by saying that he could not believe that Dilthey
was advocating the status quo of structuralists like Wilhelm Wundt and Titchener and attempting to stifle
psychology's progress.

Influences
There has been some speculation as to what influenced Ebbinghaus in his undertakings. None of his
professors seem to have influenced him, nor are there suggestions that his colleagues affected him. Von
Hartmann's work, on which Ebbinghaus based his doctorate, did suggest that higher mental processes
were hidden from view, which may have spurred Ebbinghaus to attempt to prove otherwise. The one
influence that has always been cited as having inspired Ebbinghaus was Gustav Fechner's two-volume
Elemente der Psychophysik. ("Elements of Psychophysics", 1860), a book which he purchased second-
hand in England. It is said that the meticulous mathematical procedures impressed Ebbinghaus so much
that he wanted to do for psychology what Fechner had done for psychophysics. This inspiration is also
evident in that Ebbinghaus dedicated his second work Principles of Psychology to Fechner, signing it "I
owe everything to you."[4]: 206

Selected publications
Ebbinghaus, H. (1885). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20050504104838/http://psy.ed.asu.edu/~classics/Ebbinghaus/index.htm). New
York: Dover.
Ebbinghaus, H. (1902). Grundzüge der Psychologie. Leipzig: Veit & Co.
Ebbinghaus, H. (1908). Psychology: An elementary textbook. (https://archive.org/details/cu3
1924029211286) New York: Arno Press.

References
1. Wozniak, R. H. (1999). Classics in Psychology, 1855-1915 Historical Essays W (http://psych
classics.yorku.ca/Ebbinghaus/wozniak.htm). Bristol: Thoemmes Press.
2. Hermann Ebbinghaus. (1968). Retrieved from International Encyclopedia of the Social
Sciences: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Hermann_Ebbinghaus.aspx
3. Ebbinghaus, H. (1913). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. (H. Ruger, & C.
Bussenius, Trans.) New York, NY: Teachers College.
4. Thorne, B. M.; Henley, T. B. (2001). Connections in the history and systems of psychology
(2nd ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-04535-X.
5. Glaze, J. A. (1928). The association value of non-sense syllables. Pedagogical Seminary
and Journal of Genetic Psychology, 35, 255-269.
6. Thorne, B., Henley, T. (2005). Hermann Ebbinghaus in Connections in the History and
Systems of Psychology (3rd Edition ed., pp. 211-216). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.
7. T.L. Brink (2008) Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach. "Unit 7: Memory." pp. 126 [1] (ht
tp://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/TLBrink_PSYCH07.pdf)
8. "Ghost in the Shell - Collection of Old Scientific Instruments of Laboratory for Experimental
Psychology, or devices that aided in the recording and study of memory, Oliver Tosković,
October 2018" (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328490857).
9. Penn, Paul (2020). The psychology of effective studying: how to succeed in your degree.
London New York: Routledge (published 206). ISBN 978-0-203-70311-3.
10. Penn, Paul (2020). The psychology of effective studying: how to succeed in your degree.
London New York: Routledge. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-203-70311-3.

External links
Works by or about Hermann Ebbinghaus (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28su
bject%3A%22Ebbinghaus%2C%20Hermann%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Hermann%20
Ebbinghaus%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Ebbinghaus%2C%20Hermann%22%20OR%2
0creator%3A%22Hermann%20Ebbinghaus%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Ebbinghaus%2
C%20H%2E%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Hermann%20Ebbinghaus%22%20OR%20descri
ption%3A%22Ebbinghaus%2C%20Hermann%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Herman
n%20Ebbinghaus%22%29%20OR%20%28%221850-1909%22%20AND%20Ebbinghaus%
29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the Internet Archive
Introduction to Memory. by Robert H. Wozniak (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Ebbinghaus/wo
zniak.htm)
Hermann Ebbinghaus at the Human Intelligence website (http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/ebbi
nghaus.shtml)
Short biography, bibliography, and links on digitized sources (http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/
references?id=per311) in the Virtual Laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for the History of
Science

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