Setting the Stage
Course folder
How to Read
The cycle
Comments
This graph, known as the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve, visually shows how quickly we forget new information over time if we don’t review it. Here’s how it supports the idea that we need to “make turns”—that is, review the material often:
- Steep Initial Drop: Right after learning, memory retention is 100%. But within minutes, it drops sharply—by about 40–50% in the first hour.
👉 This tells us that if we don’t revisit the material soon after learning, we will lose most of it quickly. - Continued Decline: After 1 day, retention is around 30%, and it continues to decline gradually over days.
👉 Without repetition, we retain less and less as time passes. - Long-Term Retention Is Low Without Review: After 31 days, memory retention is very low—less than 20%.
👉 Waiting too long to review means we’re almost starting from scratch.
Key Insight:
To “beat the forgetting curve”, we must space our reviews over time:
- First review within 24 hours
- Second review after a few days
- Third review a week later
- And so on…
Each review strengthens memory and flattens the curve, meaning you forget more slowly.
Summary:
The Ebbinghaus graph proves that the brain forgets rapidly unless we repeat what we’ve learned. That’s why we need to make turns—revisit the material regularly. Each turn reinforces the memory, helping us retain knowledge for the long term and achieve maximum learning.