“No matter how thoroughly a person may have learned the Greek alphabet, he will never be in a condition to repeat it backwards without further training. But if he chances to set out purposely to learn it backwards, he will probably accomplish this in noticeably shorter time than was the case in the previous learning in the customary order.”

— Hermann Ebbinghaus

Source: Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology, 1885, p. 113

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Hermann Ebbinghaus 16

German psychologist 1850–1909

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