Hermann Ebbinghaus in AP Psychology

Definition

Hermann Ebbinghaus was a German psychologist who pioneered in memory studies. He introduced techniques for quantitative measurement of mental processes and developed influential theories about learning and forgetting curves.

Related terms

Cognitive Psychology:

A branch of psychology that explores internal mental processes such as problem solving, memory, perception - all areas studied by Ebbinghaus.

Serial Position Effect:

This refers to our tendency to be able to recall the first and last items in a series best - another concept explored by Ebbinghaus.

Primacy Effect:

This refers to our tendency to recall items from the beginning of a list more easily than those in middle positions - again part of research conducted by Ebbinghaus.