7 Ways to Beat the Forgetting Curve

If you’ve ever learned something new, then forgotten it by the end of the week, then you’ve probably fallen victim to the forgetting curve. 

We’ll tell you everything you need to know about this phenomenon, including what it is, who brought it to light, and seven proven ways to combat the “Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve.”

What Is the Forgetting Curve?

The forgetting curve — also referred to as the “Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve” — is a psychological phenomenon that shows how quickly information is forgotten. This phenomenon is often represented visually with a downward-sloping curve. 

With visual representations like the one below, the sharpest decline happens not long after the initial learning and gradually decreases over time.

Who discovered the forgetting curve?

German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus explored the psychology of memory and forgetting during the 19th century. The research Ebbinghaus conducted was considered innovative and groundbreaking at the time. 

A research team successfully replicated Ebbinghaus’ findings in 2015, affirming the validity of his conclusions about the forgetting curve. 

Some of his key findings regarding the forgetting curve include: 

• In the first 20 minutes of receiving information, folks usually forget about 45% to 50% of that learned information 
• About 70% of any newly learned information is forgotten in just 24 hours
• Most folks can only remember about 10% of that learned information in a week

How the Forgetting Curve Manifests

The results of Ebbinghaus’ findings continue to manifest in people’s lives, both personal and professional. Here are some of the most common ways the forgetting curve manifests. 

The forgetting curve in everyday life

One of the most common ways the forgetting curve manifests in everyday life is when creating (and remembering) passwords. It’s such a common problem that there are plenty of solutions for folks who can’t remember their online passwords: virtual password managers (e.g., desktop, cloud-based, and single sign-on or SSO), passwords handwritten in notebooks, and of course, web browser password storage. 

Forgetting your password for various sites and applications happens for a number of reasons — having to juggle multiple passwords, complex passwords, and cognitive load, to name a few  — but it’s a prime example of how the forgetting curve can show up in your everyday life.

Another extremely common manifestation of the forgetting curve happens when meeting people for the first time. Forgetting names and even faces isn’t an uncommon phenomenon. It’s such a common occurrence in fact that there are many tips and tricks people use on a daily basis just to remember new faces and names. 

For example, habits that can help you remember these things include:

• Repeating the name immediately after you hear it
• Using memory aids like mnemonics to jog your memory
• Writing down a person’s name to help your brain remember it better
• Trying to create a link or association with the person’s name and something else that identifies them (like a personal feature, their favorite band, a fun fact, etc.)
• Using their name in conversation often

Other common examples of how the forgetting curve shows up in your everyday life include forgetting: 

• Appointments, including medical appointments, meetups with friends, etc. 
• New language vocabulary or grammar rules
• Some of the rules of the road when you’re learning how to drive
• Tasks you need to complete

However, it also manifests in more professional settings, too. 

The forgetting curve in professional settings

One of the most common areas the forgetting curve manifests is at school. That’s because kids and adults alike who are studying subjects in school are more likely to be affected by the forgetting curve as they learn and try to retain new information. 

In fact, teachers and other instructors often use methods to help students of all ages retain the information they’ve learned. For example, there are plenty of solutions to explore, such as:

• The spacing effect, which involves reviewing the material throughout the school year (along with frequent quizzes and practice tests)
• Using text with pictures or visual aids to jog a student’s memory
• Encouraging peer-to-peer explanations, AKA, having students explain concepts to each other

Of course, the forgetting curve often shows up at work and in professional development settings, too. No matter what your industry, the consequences of the forgetting curve can affect your performance. 

For example, in an industry like sales, the forgetting curve can be especially harmful. Salespeople are often trained on new methodologies, concepts, and skills. However, if a sales rep forgets 90% of that information in just a week, problems can crop up and will continue to crop up unless other methods are implemented. 

In sales, some of the most common problem areas are in:

• Product or service knowledge, where a sales rep can’t remember key advantages or features of the solution they’re selling
• Software training, where reps easily forget how to use the software and its applications
• New employee training, in which new employees at a sales firm have trouble remembering information learned during trainings
• Organization procedures and policies, where both new and existing employees forget common company practices unless they’re reviewed often
• Client information, such as important data a customer or prospect shares (unless reps constantly review files)

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to combat the effects of the forgetting curve. 

7 Ways to Combat the Forgetting Curve

Just because the forgetting curve is common doesn’t mean it has to affect your personal and professional success. Here are seven ways you can fight back against the forgetting curve phenomenon. 

1. Practice active recall.

Active recall is a technique many students use to remember information. It’s one of the strongest methods for studying out there. The idea is this: Instead of reading or re-reading information, you’ll practice testing yourself which forces the brain to actively recall information you’ve learned. 

While re-reading information is a passive method, testing yourself is much more effective for recall. To do this, you can create handwritten quizzes or flashcards, or you can use a tool like Quizlet to practice actively recalling any information. 

You don’t have to be a student to use active recall, either. Many people use active recall at their place of work or even use it for hobbies. If you’re learning a game like Dungeons & Dragons that has many rules and insider knowledge, you can still put that information in a format like flashcards or handmade quizzes to actively recall that knowledge. 

After quizzing yourself, you’ll be able to pinpoint exactly what you need to work on instead of relying on guesswork. 

2. Use mnemonic devices.

Leaning on memory aids like mnemonic devices is a powerful tool for kids and adults alike. In the world of sales, for example, many of the techniques and methodologies use mnemonic devices to help salespeople remember them. For example, both MEDDPICC and MEDDIC are acronyms for lead qualification techniques. 

Other memory aids like rhymes and visualization methods can also help you recall information. 

3. Get plenty of sleep.

Although it’s often forgotten, getting enough sleep is critical to combatting the effects of the forgetting curve. That’s because your brain can’t function properly without the right amount of sleep. For adults, getting 7 hours or more is recommended. For teenagers, a better goal would be between 8 to 10 hours. School-age children need about 9 to 12 hours of sleep.

Memory consolidation and retention is much more difficult when you’re only running on a few hours of sleep (or, worse yet, no sleep). 

4. Teach someone else.

If you’re struggling to remember things you’ve learned, sometimes teaching it to someone else can reinforce that material. This doesn’t have to mean a formal instruction, either. Even just casually explaining what you’ve learned to someone else can help secure your knowledge and understanding of the material and solidify that in your memory. 

5. Experiment with interleaving.

The idea of interleaving — AKA, mixing up study topics instead of grouping similar topics together or studying one thing at a time — is an interesting one. By studying different topics, you’re essentially putting a stop to interference and boosting your memory retention. For example, when studying, you can switch back and forth between various skill sets, subjects, or topics. 

Interleaving can work no matter your age, subject matter, job, or industry — it’s a universally helpful tool for battling the effects of the forgetting curve. 

6. Use spaced repetition. 

Spaced repetition is another tried-and-true technique to improve your memory retention and fight back against forgetfulness. This method is rooted in the idea that, when learning is spaced out over time, memory improves. 

To try spaced repetition, review the information you’re studying at increasing intervals. This will help reinforce the learning and improve your long-term memory. To do this, you can use homemade flashcards or online tools to help plan sessions of spaced repetition.

7. Try elaborative rehearsal.

To move information from your short-term memory to your long-term memory, try experimenting with elaborative rehearsal. It works by pairing new information with the knowledge you already have to create strong memory associations. 

You can make up stories or images in your head to help you remember what you’ve just learned, for example. 

How to Combat the Forgetting Curve Using AI

For folks in industries like sales, the forgetting curve can be brutal. Whether it’s sales pitch certification or learning methodologies like Miller Heiman, it can be a serious challenge for sales reps of all experience levels to fight off forgetfulness. Luckily, tools like Yoodli can help stave off the forgetting curve. 

Yoodli is a virtual sales coach that uses AI technology to provide coaching feedback for sales reps and their teams. With the forgetting curve, instead of allowing reps to forget the methodology or training they just received, Yoodli allows them to practice and beat the curve with repetition. Sales folks can practice whatever they learn in training in realistic but risk-free simulations. Here’s how that can work.

Yoodli offers intelligent, AI-based sales roleplays that provide salespeople with a platform to sharpen their skills without risking losing prospects and clients. To combat the forgetting curve, they can practice in real-life scenarios (from cold calling to inbound and outbound discovery) again and again until they can successfully implement what they’ve learned in actual buyer meetings. 

Combatting the forgetting curve when you have thousands of employees, however, can feel overwhelming. The good news? Yoodli has a proven track record of fending off the curve in top companies, like Dale Carnegie, Korn Ferry, and even Google.

Here’s a real-life example. Google Cloud tapped into Yoodli’s services to increase seller attainment while also decreasing ramp across the board — with more than 15,000 reps. This case study turned out to be such a success Yoodli is now used in other Google programs, too.  

If you and your sales team need a tried-and-true solution to beat the forgetting curve, learn how Yoodli can help at https://yoodli.ai/. 

The Main Takeaway

The forgetting curve is a phenomenon that nearly everyone faces, no matter the age. But it doesn’t have to affect your success and achievements, especially if you work in an industry like sales. 

Yoodli can help anyone — from sales reps to students — fight the curve through strategic repetition and practice. Don’t wait to give it a shot!

Sources

• MindTools: “Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve.”
• Learning Everest: “Addressing the Forgetting Curve in Instructional Design.”
• PLoS One: “Replication and Analysis of Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve (2015).”
• Edutopia: “Why Students Forget—and What You Can Do About It.”
• University of Arizona: “Active Recall to the Memory Rescue,” “Adding Spaced Repetition to Your Study Toolkit.”
• Sleep Foundation: “How Memory and Sleep Are Connected.”
• Coursera: “How to Use Interleaving for Deeper Learning.”
• Verywell Health: “Elaborative Rehearsal: A Better Way to Memorize.”