Ebbinghaus made a second discovery: The downward slope of the forgetting curve can be softened by repeating the learned information at particular intervals. This principle is the foundation of the learning method known as “spaced repetition,” where material is learned then reviewed after increasingly large time gaps. [...]
Overcoming the forgetting curve is about more than raw repetitions. There has to be space between the reviews. It doesn’t work to just study a new fact 15 times in 1 hour and overcome the curve. If the fact is already at the front of the mind, no work is being done in recalling it again. But if information is repeated at intervals, the brain has to reconstruct that memory, strengthening it like a muscle. [...]
The forgetting curve shows how brains are different. They can learn anything, which means they need to filter out the important from the trivial. Luckily, understanding how the curve works makes it easier to learn things that may not be necessary for survival, but are deeply rewarding. Like a new language, a musical instrument, or the name of Chewbacca’s father (it’s Attichitcuk).
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