Which researcher conducted early experiments in memory?

• A. Freud
• B. Ebbinghaus
• C. Wundt
• D. Pavlov

Answer: (B)

This item tests who first conducted systematic experiments on memory. Hermann Ebbinghaus is the correct answer; he pioneered controlled memory experiments in the late 19th century, using meaningless syllables to strip away prior meaning and focus on memory processes. By measuring how retention declines over varying delays, he produced the forgetting curve, showing that most forgetting happens quickly and then levels off. He also introduced the savings method to quantify how much information is retained by relearning, which laid the groundwork for experimental memory research. Other figures—Freud in psychoanalysis, Wundt in broader experimental psychology, and Pavlov in conditioning—made important contributions in their areas, but Ebbinghaus is the one who conducted these early memory experiments.