Which psychological effect contributes to the systematic forgetting of information over time?

The forgetting curve is a concept that describes how information is lost over time when there is no attempt to retain it. This phenomenon was first articulated by Hermann Ebbinghaus, who conducted experiments on memory retention. The forgetting curve illustrates that memory retention declines rapidly shortly after learning and then levels off over time. This systematic forgetting occurs because, without reinforcement or retrieval practice, the stored information becomes less accessible.

In contrast, the recency effect refers to the tendency to better remember the most recent items presented in a list, while the primacy effect pertains to recalling items at the beginning of a list more effectively. Semantic memory loss is more about the deterioration of specific knowledge and does not generally address the broader trend of information retention over time as captured by the forgetting curve. Thus, the forgetting curve is the most comprehensive choice for explaining why we forget information systematically as time passes.