- 1885 - Forgetting curve: German
psychologist Hermann
Ebbinghaus, the pioneer of experimental study of memory,
published his
Contribution to Experimental Psychology. He used himself as his sole
experimental subject. His work might be considered the first step to SuperMemo
(formulated exactly 100 years later). Ebbinghaus' work was very influential
(English translation 1913), yet for years it was not followed by similar
research of major significance! A myth that can be tracked down to this History of
SuperMemo page says that
Ebbinghaus invented spaced repetition!
Another myth says that
Ebbinghaus was first to measure the exponential forgetting curve. The
formulas ascribed to Ebbinghaus come from SuperMemo! His was a negative power
curve as used for heterogeneous material in
newer SuperMemos
- 1901 - Spaced review: American
psychologist William
James suggested that review of the learning material should be
spaced in time. Similar conclusions were drawn by Ebbinghaus and Jost. This
expanding rehearsal idea gave birth to SuperMemo in 1985
- 1913 - Spacing effect: W. H. Pyle
confirmed the superiority of spaced review
experimentally in a classroom setting
- 1932 - Psychology of study: C. A.
Mace hinted on the efficient learning methods in his book "The
psychology of study". He mentioned "active rehearsal"
and "repetitive revisions" that should be spaced in
gradually increasing intervals, roughly "intervals of one day,
two days, four days, eight days, and so on". This proposition was later taken on by other authors (including Tony Buzan), but
did not
permeate into the practice of study. Only a computer implementation of
the idea, SuperMemo 1.0, half a century later, opened a way for a wider
public to benefit from spaced repetition
- 1969 - Strength Paradox: Robert
Bjork noticed a reverse relationship between the probability
of recall and the memory effect of a review. This lead to Bjork's theory of disuse
(1992) that would distinguish between the storage strength and the
retrieval strength. The existence of those two memory variables was
independently proven in 1988 by Wozniak on the basis of the properties of
memory underlying the concept of SuperMemo (published in 1995), and the precise relationship
between the two variables was computed with the help of data obtained
from SuperMemo in 2005
- 1972 - Expanding rehearsal:
Sebastian Leitner published "So lernt man lernen" in
which he described his Leitner cardbox. The Leitner cardfile technique
can be considered a precursor of spaced repetition.
Although the timing of repetition in Leitner box is only loosely
related to retention levels and is highly affected by the intensity of
learning, the technique points to the benefits of the expanding rehearsal
in which successive repetitions occur in increasing intervals. The Leitner system appears ineffective in cases when it produces intervals
substantially different than those that result in the desired level of
knowledge retention; however, it appeared very popular in dozens of flashcard
programs
- 1982 - Active recall: Piotr Wozniak, a
student of molecular biology at the Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznan,
Poland, became frustrated with his
learning progress. Wozniak embarked on a self-study course which would ultimately lead to the development of SuperMemo. He
started with an
obvious conclusion that active
recall serves memory far better than
passive review. As a result, Wozniak started writing down all
his mission-critical knowledge on paper in a flashcard form
- 1984 - Minimum information: Wozniak
concluded that learning proceeded much faster if knowledge was split into a
number of simple questions and answers reviewed independently. This
conclusion was later formulated as the minimum
information principle, which is now considered
part of the definition of the SuperMemo method
- 1985 - Spaced repetition: Unaware
of the previous work in the field, yet using experimental methods first
applied by Ebbinghaus a century before, Wozniak designed two
simple experiments on his own memory and found how review
intervals influence recall. He formulated first
spaced
repetition algorithm that would later be known as
SuperMemo. His learning with the new method started on August 25, 1985.
This day marks the birth of computational spaced
repetition, i.e. the technique in which knowledge is reviewed in
optimum intervals that are determined by a computer with the goal of
reaching a desired level of knowledge retention. For a detailed
description of the first algorithm see: Using SuperMemo without a
computer
- 1987 - Spaced
repetition software:
Wozniak, now a student of computer science at the University
of Technology in Poznan, wrote his first
computer program employing spaced repetition. In 16
evenings, he came up with a very simple SuperMemo
1.0 for MS DOS (written in Borland's Turbo Pascal 3).
The first computer algorithm
introduced the concept of E-factor (i.e. the
number that makes it possible to differentiate between items of
different difficulty). Wozniak begun repetitions with SuperMemo 1.0
using his human biology learning material on December 13,
1987. Wozniak's spaced
repetition algorithm, opened to the public, was later used by dozens of popular
learning applications such as Mnemosyne, Anki, and others. This is how SuperMemo
1.0 looked like:
1988
- SuperMemo
gradually gained popularity at
Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznan,
and the University
of Technology in Poznan, Poland
- SuperMemo 2.0
was written during summer vacation (Turbo Pascal
4.0)
- Tomasz
Kuehn from
University of Technology in Poznan wrote SuperMemo for Atari ST
(Pascal)
- Przemyslaw Glowacki from University of Technology in
Poznan wrote SuperMemo for Atari XL (Basic)
- SuperMemo 3.0
was completed in October 1988. It used an
up-to-date DOS interface with pull-down menus
- in an article that
would make part of his Master's Thesis, Wozniak demonstrated the existence of the
two components of long-term memory.
The terms retrievability and stability
were proposed (analogous to retrieval
strength and storage strength in Bjork's new theory of disuse). The two
variables of memory would underlie future
Algorithm SM-17
(2016)
1989
1990
1991 - SuperMemo entered the commercial arena:
1992
- January, Marczello Georgiew and Tomasz
Kuehn
join SuperMemo World
- February, Andrzej
Horodenski from Computer World initiated commercial sales of SuperMemo
6 by writing the first
ever article about the SuperMemo method and software
- March, SuperMemo World
displayed its products at CeBIT
1992
- September, SuperMemo 6
received the first degree award at Softarg 1992, Katowice, Poland
- September, SuperMemo 6
received a special award of the Polish Computer Science Society
- December, SuperMemo World
turned its first quarterly profit
- December, SuperMemo 6 was awarded in
Product of the Year
1992 competition organized by
PC Kurier, Poland
1993
In the picture: Krzysztof
Biedalak explains the principles of SuperMemo to Chancellor
Kohl
- May, SuperMemo 7.2
Audio Visual for Windows was released. This was the first SuperMemo able
to play sounds and display pictures
- August, written by Krzysztof Wojcieszek, SuperMemo 1.0 for
Amiga was released
- September, SuperMemo topped charts of best Polish software applications for Amiga (Amiga
Magazine)
- September, SuperMemo 7 was
awarded at Softarg 1993, Katowice, Poland
- December, SuperMemo became
the first ever Polish software reviewed in
Byte International
- December, SuperMemo 7 was
awarded in Product of the Year 1993,
PC Kurier, Poland
1994
- January, SuperMemo was voted
4-th most popular Polish software by readers of Polish
PC World (behind
anti-virus and word-processing products)
- March, SuperMemo for Amiga
was voted the Product of the Year 1993 among Polish software for Amiga
by readers of Amiga Magazine
- March, SuperMemo World
displayed SuperMemo 7.3 at CeBIT 1993
- March, SuperMemo was awarded
for the best value/price ratio
by the CENA/VYKON journal, Czech Republic
- May, SuperMemo 7 was awarded
a prestigious Gold Medal at
Infosystem Computer Fair in Poznan
- July, 10,000-th copy of
SuperMemo was sold
- August, SuperMemo USA, Inc.
publishes SuperMemo 7.4 on CD-ROM, including the audio version of
Advanced English best-seller. This title became the first
ever Polish
Windows software title released on CD-ROM
- September, SuperMemo World was granted the special award of
the fair's president, and
received a free display at Softarg 1995
- September, SuperMemo World
signed its first OEM bundling deal with
JTT, the second largest
computer-maker in Poland
- October, SuperMemo World
published the European release of SuperMemo on CD-ROM
- October, SuperMemo 7.2 topped the ranks of best-selling software sold on illegal software market,
ahead of Microsoft Word 6.0 and Microsoft Works 3.0 (PC World Komputer,
Vol. 11, 1994)
- December, SuperMemo for
Windows received the Reader's Choice distinction from
PC World Komputer
(Vol. 12, 1994) by being voted second most popular Polish software in
Poland and the most popular Polish Windows software in Poland
- December, Wozniak completed
his Economics of learning. This
doctoral dissertation was entirely devoted to the SuperMemo method and outlined
the theoretical basis for future SuperMemos. The
concept of Knowledge Machine was an inspiration for
Incremental Learning
1995
- January, SuperMemo 6 for DOS was
released as freeware
- February, SuperMemo
received a positive review
in the most prestigious European computer journal: German Chip
- March, SuperMemo
1.0 for Macintosh was released (this version was later discontinued due to poor
profitability)
- March, SuperMemo World
displayed its Multilingual SuperMemo
7.5 CD-ROM at CeBIT 1995
- April, Polish
Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak
bought a copy of SuperMemo
for personal use (he refused a free gift)
- April, SuperMemo User Survey
revealed that users of SuperMemo consider the program their single most
important application!
- April, SuperMemo World
signed a comprehensive OEM deal with
Optimus, the greatest
computer-maker in Poland
- May, 30,000-th copy of
SuperMemo was sold
- September, 500
beta-testers received Pre-Release CD-ROM with the first
hypermedia SuperMemo codenamed Genius: precursor of
SuperMemo 8.0
- November, SuperMemo World
became the
first Polish company ever to display its products at
Comdex in Las
Vegas (in the picture: Marczello Georgiew)
1996
- January, SuperMemo was voted
the best Polish application
by readers of PC World,
Komputer
- January, first SuperMemo
hypermedia CD-ROM title was released: Video English (with
Genius 1.0, early precursor of SuperMemo
8)
- June, SuperMemo Corporation was
incorporated in the US with a goal of making it the first company of
Polish origin on NASDAQ. The company came close to securing substantial
venture capital but ultimately ... closed
- September, SuperMemo World released a hypermedia best-selling
course of English on CD-ROM, Cross Country (with Genius 2.0, a precursor
of SuperMemo 8)
- September, precursor of
SuperMemo 8,
Genius 2.0, received its first award
as the hypermedia authoring tool at Softarg 1996, Poland
- October, 60,000 readers of
Chip in Poland received a
CD-ROM with the full version of the hypermedia authoring SuperMemo
(Genius 2.0). Free!
- November, the first Polish
multimedia encyclopedia on CD-ROM was released with SuperMemo as
an integrated tool for learning selected encyclopedic material
1997
- January, SuperMemo World,
Polish veteran of CeBIT and the first Polish company present at Comdex
made a strategic turn towards the Internet away from major
software fairs. SuperMemo Website at supermemo.com
will become SuperMemo World's best marketing tool ever. This also marks the beginning of the accelerated expansion of the concept of
spaced repetition
around the world!
- January, Polish PWN
Encyclopedia with SuperMemo was voted the best Polish software product
by readers of PC Kurier
- February, SuperMemo 8 entered
beta-testing. For the first time, beta-testing was run exclusively over
the Internet with a dramatic impact on program's reliability
- May, over 100 international
beta-testers submitted their final reports via the Internet. This
SuperMemo 8 beta-testing
program alone brought more valuable data than all programs
before
- May 12, SuperMemo World
released Deine
Chancen in Deutsch with SuperMemo 8 (first
commercial CD-ROM with hypermedia SuperMemo)
- June 12, for the first time
ever SuperMemo was made available for download from
the web
- October 22, 80,000 readers of
Chip in Poland received a
CD-ROM with SuperMemo
8.0 (Free!) and a demo of Advanced
English 97
- November 10, Advanced English 97 with
SuperMemo 8
was
released
1998
- March 20,
SuperMemo
Library hosted by Michal Hejwosz and Piotr Maksimczyk was
inaugurated
- May 25, SuperMemo World signed a
licensing and distribution contract with
Vulcan Media.
By September 1998, the two companies will develop the largest
network of sales representatives in Poland covering virtually all
software resellers in the country. Additionally, SuperMemo technology
will become integrated with all new educational titles released by Vulcan Media
(including their Multimedia Encyclopedia best-seller)
- August
1, SuperMemo World as the first company in Eastern Europe opened an
e-commerce
store at Yahoo Stores
- September
28 - SuperMemo 98 was released
- November
27 - SuperMemo 98 was featured among
the most successful Delphi applications
- December
1 - SuperMemo appeared on DVD as part of the best-selling Polish
Multimedia Encyclopedia (PWN, 1999 Edition). This title sold 45,000
copies in the next two years
1999
- April 26, 300,000 copies of
Easy English
CD-ROM were released in Poland. This is the largest run of
SuperMemo ever
- May 10, SuperMemo MegaMix 99
was released with 319 SuperMemo collections written by users of SuperMemo
- July 5, on the 8th
anniversary of SuperMemo World, 1,000,000th
CD-ROM with
SuperMemo has been released
- September, SuperMemo
for Windows CE was released
- October 4, SuperMemo 99
introduced a new concept: the
reading list. Reading lists extend the
application of SuperMemo to the area of knowledge acquisition,
selection, prioritization, and formulation. The reading lists later evolved into
a breakthrough concept of incremental reading
- November 23, in its
probably greatest success ever, SuperMemo was nominated as the
Product of the Decade by
PC
Kurier, Poland (among three other contenders)
2000
2001
2002
2004
- May, SuperMemo
for Pocket PC became the first SuperMemo to adopt the new XML data exchange format
- September, SuperMemo 2004 adopted the XML data exchange format (see:
Revolution in the pocket)
2005
2006
2007
- March, SuperMemo 2006 for Windows pioneered tools for
tackling learning overload: priority queue,
auto-sort and auto-postpone. This made it possible to increase the
volume of incremental reading
without a detriment to retention of the top priority material
- Dec 13, SuperMemo software turned 20 years old
2008
- April, Wired Magazine published a 7 page article on the history
of SuperMemo
- December, a contract with the Polish Ministry of Education
brought SuperMemo to 144,000 computers in Polish schools
2009
- March, SuperMemo
2008 introduced the optimization of learning based on the analysis of the timing of sleep.
SuperMemo thus entered a long road towards the future in which sleep can
be
optimized for the sake of learning, while learning can be optimized
with the
view to the timing of sleep. The bridge between the two worlds
initiates a process in which truckloads of data are being generated for
investigating the relationship between sleep and
memory. See: impact of sleep
on learning
- September, SuperMemo 2008 introduced the concept of
incremental video, which is an extension of incremental reading into
the world of video. It also made further inroads into the area of
visual learning
- December, iPhone got its own SuperMemo too
2010
2011
2012
- September, in association with T-Mobile, SuperMemo World conducted the
greatest advertising campaign for its products in history
- December, SuperMemo World opened SuperMemo Language Center in Poznan, Poland.
Using the back up of SuperMemo, the school provides a unique guarantee: "if fail
your target exam, you can claim your money back!"
2013
2014
- March, SuperMemo World opened a new field in education:
EduAction. The movie Olive Green
combines entertainment, with a course of English and the
SuperMemo method. Over the next 2 years, the
movie will have collected dozens of awards from journals and movie festival
reviewers
- Summer, SuperMemo entered new platforms:
cars and ...
kindergartens
- November, multimedia version of Advanced English
turned 20 years old. It keeps evolving. This best-selling learning material has always been the
fastest avenue towards native English vocabulary. Its
2014
release reflects dynamic changes to English and improves item
formulations with the view to maximizing their mnemonic power
2015
2016
- January, new tools in SuperMemo help you simulate the
process in which a creative brain comes up with solutions to problems.
Like a working human brain in slow motion, SuperMemo can bring up
related pieces of knowledge, and produce an artificial "train of
thought". For details see:
Neural
creativity. See also
how neural creativity came to be
For more details see: SuperMemo News
See also: