Ebbinghaus' Memory Research

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Herman Ebbinghaus' contributions to the discipline of psychology, particularly his contributions regarding aspects of human memory. The paper examines the intellectual tradition from which Ebbinghaus built his theories, notably the work of Wilhelm Wundt, and highlights the implications his work has had for contemporary practices in psychology. The paper shows how Ebbinghaus made a lasting contribution to the history and development of psychology, specifically in his work that applied experimental research to study the formation of associations.

From the Paper:

"Indeed, Ebbinghaus was the first psychologist to investigate the properties of human memory. Ebbinghaus was influenced by the British empiricists, and he began with the assumption that memory involved the formation of new associations and that such associations would be strengthened through repetition. He wanted to observe this process and so developed tests using a set of items to be committed to memory. These items were called "nonsense syllables," meaning they would have no associations with known words that might somehow mediate memory. Lists of these nonsense syllables would have perhaps twenty items, and he would memorize these lists by reading and repeating each syllable to himself."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Baddeley, A.D. (1999). Essentials of Human Memory. Hove, England: Psychology Press.
• Boeree, C.G. (2000). Psychology: The Beginnings. Retrieved March 27, 2007 from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/psychbeginnings.html.
• 18th Century: The British empiricists (1997). History of Cognitive Psychology. Retrieved March 27, 2007 from http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/cognitiv.htm.
• Herman Ebbinghaus (2007). Human Intelligence. Retrieved March 27, 2007 from http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/ebbinghaus.shtml.
• Human memory (2007). Retrieved March 26, 2007 from http://users.ipfw.edu/abbott/120/Ebbinghaus.html.

More papers on Ebbinghaus' Memory Research:

• Analytical Essay # 132718 : "Herman Ebbinghaus and Modern Psychology"
• Analytical Essay # 131708 : "Ebbinghaus and the History of Psychology"

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