The Life and Contributions of Hermann Ebbinghaus

A native of Germany, born on January 24, 1850, Hermann Ebbinghaus contributed to the science of psychology for a good portion of his life. His work in research, writing, teaching, and furthering the development of experimental psychology all evidence the marks he left on the field in and even after his lifetime (Woodworth, 1909; Fuchs, 1997; Davis & Palladino, 2002). In 1873, at the age of 23, Ebbinghaus received his doctor of philosophy at the university at Bonn. Although he did not have contact with experimental psychologists during his years as a student, as there were very few at the time, he went on to become one of the pioneers in the area. It is reported that Fechner and Helmholtz were among his most prominent influences (Woodworth, 1909).

His love and commitment to psychology and to his work was portrayed in his teachings while professor at the University of Berlin. Ebbinghaus was energetic, enthusiastic, and friendly in his lectures—becoming excited about new problems that arose and encouraging discussion. These tactics earned him a strong reputation, which spread even across the seas, bringing students from America to the university during their travels to Europe. In an attempt to bring the recognized professor to America, Cornell University offered him a position as professor, however he declined and remained in Europe (Fuchs, 1997). Excellent and admired teaching skills were not the only means by which Ebbinghaus contributed to the psychological realm. He also reached out through scholarly writings and journals.

Along with a man named Arthur König, Ebbinghaus created the first broad spectrum journal of psychology in Germany’s history called the Zeitschrift für Psychologie und Phsysiologie der Sinnesorgane. At the time of Ebbinghaus’s death in 1909 the journal “…had probably more fully represented the progress of psychology during these twenty years than any other journal…” of the times (Woodworth, 1909). Although not extensive in number, his own published works are impressive and have contributed and will continue to contribute greatly to the field psychology. Although his most famous work is that pertaining to memory, he also published less renowned works on areas of sensation and perception such as brightness contrast, binocular afterimages, Fechner’s Law, Weber’s Law, and a color perception theory (Fuchs, 1997). His published findings were the result of much hard work and experimentation in the laboratory. The laboratories in which he conducted his research also consumed much of his dedication and energy.

Ebbinghaus spent a considerable amount of time not only in the laboratory, but searching for funding and ways to support his research environment. Money was needed in order to continue his research as well as the training of his students (Fuchs, 1997). However his time spent tracking down funding options was well spent in that the money gained from these efforts allowed him to carry out research which has since had a profound impact on the world of psychology, and in particular, the study of human memory. Hermann Ebbinghaus is known today as the pioneer of memory research. His investigations brought to the table psychological phenomena such as memory testing using nonsense syllables, serial learning, free recall, and the curve of forgetting (Davis & Palladino, 2002).

In his research with human memory Ebbinghaus devised a set of stimuli which would be unfamiliar to his subjects. Therefore his participants would not have previously associated meanings and experiences with the stimuli, and when asked to remember them, they would be forming completely new memories. These stimuli are known as nonsense syllables, which are groups of three letters, usually organized in the sequence of consonant-vowel-consonant. In his book, A Contribution to Experimental Psychology, Ebbinghaus offers several advantages to the use of nonsense syllables in the study of memory. He first notes their lack of meaning as well as simplistic and homogenous form. Unfamiliarity and likeness in form create stimuli that avoid differing degrees of interest and quality among items. This method avoids the possible confounds which would otherwise be found if presenting familiar and more complex stimuli. The use of such syllables also allows for an expansive bank of consonant-vowel-consonant groupings, which are similar, yet remain different from one another (Ebbinghaus, 1913).

In utilizing these created stimuli in memory research, his goal was to study how associations between these items could be created without the use of previous knowledge, learning, and experiences that are normally available to humans (Davis & Palladino, 2002). Since the creator of these nonsense syllables was also at a loss of existing paradigms for relating the items, Ebbinghaus began his experiments using himself as the subject. During testing trials, he would attempt to memorize random lists of nonsense syllables with the purpose of repeating them aloud immediately after their presentation. This aim was considered reached when “…the initial syllable being given, a series could be recited at the first attempt, without hesitation, at a certain rate, and with the consciousness of being correct” (Ebbinghaus, 1913). In other words, after the first syllable in the list was given as a cue, the remainder of the set of syllables should be repeated confidently and successfully on the first try.

Ebbinghaus measured his data in several ways in an attempt to discover how certain aspects of the stimuli influenced memorization and recall. He measured the speed at which a series of syllables, differing in length, could be memorized. This noted differences in the amount of time required to learn longer as opposed to shorter stimulus sets. As would be expected, the more syllables presented in a single set, the length of time necessary to learn the material also increased. The number of times that the list had to be repeated in order to retain the information was also calculated. It was found that with an increase in the number of times the stimuli were repeated there was a decrease in the amount of time needed to reproduce the memorized information. Thus, the more times the stimuli were repeated, the more likely the information was to be committed to memory. The speed at which material was forgotten after it had been learned was also recorded. Not surprisingly, the more time spent memorizing the syllables and the more repetitions completed, the less quickly the stimuli were forgotten. Ebbinghaus also measured the effects of repeated learning on the retention of information. That is, he studied the process of learning material that was once known by heart but had been forgotten. One last area of measurement worth mentioning is his examination of learning material in relation to their position and order in the set of syllables. Here he was concerned with how the lists might be learned depending on the positioning and order of the syllables presented (Ebbinghaus, 1913).

The measurements that Ebbinghaus used in his memory research provided experimental psychology with techniques that have been used for decades. He made use of the process of serial learning, in which participants are instructed to repeat the learned items in the exact order of their presentation, which has been applied in numerous experiments studying both humans and animals since his time (Capaldi & Miller, 2004; Hoffmann et al., 2001). The serial learning phenomenon is not the only discovery that Ebbinghaus has impressed upon the field of research in psychology. His research has also dealt with the forgetful aspects of human memory.

Ebbinghaus researched and devised the curve of forgetting, which shows the progression of forgetting certain amounts of learned material as time passes. The basic assumption of this curve is that, as more time elapses after learning a stimulus set, the more information is forgotten. His findings reveal that the best performance of recall occurs soon after the learning has taken place. A prime example of this occurrence can be found on a daily basis in schools and universities where students often cram for an examination, studying the necessary material, close to the time of the test (Davis & Palladino, 2002). As with serial learning, research on the curve of forgetting has also been examined in later years after the publication of Ebbinghaus’s works (McLane & Hoag, 1943; Newman, 1939). Although his untimely death in 1909 prevented him from furthering the research area of human memory, the continued use of serial learning and the forgetting curve in psychological experiments proves the significance of his work in the field.

The pioneering contributions of Hermann Ebbinghaus have led to the development of more modernized studies of human memory. The experimental psychologists of today have shifted their focus towards investigating the formation and usage processes involved in memory. This type of research goes beyond the more simplistic memory model based on associations between stimuli on which Ebbinghaus based his studies. His work prompted future researchers to delve into the more complex actions and organizations of the mind, examining areas such as those regarding the storage and retrieval methods of memories (Davis & Palladino, 2002). Attaining knowledge of historical figures in psychology is an important part of the continued broadening of research. Such information affords a greater understanding of psychological concepts, which may have attributed to modern investigators’ more evolved and complex experiments. Groundbreaking discoveries, such as Ebbinghaus’s nonsense syllables, serial learning, and the curve of forgetting, provide the underlying and fundamental stepping-stones for growth and expansion of experimental psychology.