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Forgetting Is The Friend Of Learning

Posted on January 23, 2025
Roisin McFeely

Learning, remembering and forgetting all work together in very interesting ways. And though this next statement might sound counterintuitive, it is true. 

Forgetting is one of the most important features of memory.

In this context, forgetting is not about the permanent loss of information built up by learners. Why? Because certain conditions both produce forgetting and also create opportunities to enhance learning. 

Let’s explore some of the foundational research in this area first before we consider the implications for the practices of studying and revision. In 1885 German psychologist, Hermann Ebbinghaus, set out to establish efficient ways of retaining and recalling information. In essence, he became the forerunner of today’s World Memory Champions, in that he created many lists and memorised them. He then tested these lists against different learning intervals and logged the speed with which he learned and forgot their content. And he repeated this many many times until he was able to recite the lists at an acceptable speed.

Ebbinghaus demonstrated an exponential (as in rapid and progressive) loss over time in the ability to remember and recall information. The most rapid loss occurred within the first hour. After about nine hours he had forgotten around 60 per cent of the material. After 24 hours, this percentage had increased further (see figure 1).

Now there are other factors beyond the workings of our memory system that also influence the speed of forgetting, such as stress, lack of sleep and how new material is initially represented. But, nonetheless, Ebbinghaus was able to demonstrate a clear principle for us. 

As soon as we learn, we also forget, unless we actively review material. 

Students and teachers should not be alarmed by this exponential memory loss over the course of a school day. Why? Because the process of forgetting begins almost immediately after we learn new material. Working memory has a limited and temporary capacity and learning is completed over four stages (LINK TO BLOG Oct 3rd)

The good news is that Ebbinghaus’s work also revealed the optimal times for reviewing information. Similar to our opening statement above about forgetting, these optimal timings can also feel counterintuitive because they involve increasing the gaps between review intervals. Let’s look now at the differences between cramming (minimal gaps between reviews) and spaced practice. 

Cramming versus SpacingCramming, or massed practice, is a popular approach to study but it is not as effective as its’ opposite, known as spaced practice. Spaced practice involves regular opportunities to review information – weeks, months, before assessments – with an increased space between each review (see figure 2). Using time in this way allows learners to unlock the permanent and unlimited capacities of long-term memory.

Figure 2.

For example, instead of one review daily, over five consecutive days, we might review this material five times over a longer three-week period, each time increasing the gap between reviews. By deliberately spacing these reviews, we encourage forgetting and we also challenge the brain to be effortful by seeking out the learned information. This consolidates learning and boosts retention and recall capacity. 

“Spacing effects” have been demonstrated throughout the history of research on human learning and their benefits only become apparent after a delay. So, where ca much shorter period of cramming might lead to a good performance in a test given immediately afterwards, it is also followed by a striking amount of forgetting. 

Where new information needs to be remembered over the long-term, and especially if it that information is a foundation for learning that follows, cramming is definitely not a good idea. Two other practices also enhance the function of forgetting as the friend of learning. The first is changing the contexts from where new material is initially studied to where it is restudied or tested. 

And the second is known as interleaving, that is, mixing up the order of set revision topics during the practice of studying and revision.

Combining these practices together creates a level of desirable difficulty where the information to be recalled is associated with a greater range of cognitive and contextual cues.

Helping students to understand these conditions that produce longer term retention of information can have a powerful impact on them. Because many students often believe that IQ explains the differences between them. Most underestimate the power they all have to learn, and they don’t appreciate the role of deliberate practice when it comes to learning, remembering, forgetting and relearning information. 

Therefore, when it comes to learning, forgetting is definitely not the exception to the rule. In fact, it is one of the important rules.

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