What did Hermann Ebbinghaus do?

Hermann Ebbinghaus was a German psychologist known for his pioneering work in the study of memory and learning. He conducted groundbreaking experiments on himself to investigate the nature of memory retention and forgetting, leading to the formulation of the "forgetting curve," which illustrates how information is lost over time without reinforcement. Ebbinghaus also introduced the concept of "nonsense syllables" to study memory in a controlled manner, minimizing the influence of prior knowledge. His research laid the foundation for experimental psychology and the scientific study of memory.