The Forgetting Curve

Think with the whole body
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In the 1800'Hermann Ebbinghaus a German psychologist made a startling discovery. When we learn something, we forget most of it within 20 minutes. Within 60 minutes a substantial amount is gone and most is gone within a day. On average, over a period of weeks the human brain forgets more than 90% of what has been learned. This is particularly true in the area of vocabulary development and acquisition. The curve depicts that, in the long run, only about 10-20% of information is retained after initial memorization. Ebbinghaus managed to construct a 'forgetting curve' with which he derived that if you repeat learning sessions at exponentially increasing time intervals, then you could strengthen synaptic connections in the brain and counteract the process of forgetting. After learning the correct answer five times in a row, the study item can be locked into the long-term memory.
It is extremely useful to know the 'Ebbinghaus forgetting curve' which can be easily accessed on the internet.