<P> Transience refers to forgetting what occurs with the passage of time . Transience occurs during the storage phase of memory , after an experience has been encoded and before it is retrieved . As time passes , the quality of our memory also changes , deteriorating from specific to more general . German philosopher named Hermann Ebbinghaus decided to measure his own memory for lists of nonsense syllables at various times after studying them . He decided to draw out a curve of his forgetting pattern over time . He realized that there is a rapid drop - off in retention during the first tests and there is a slower rate of forgetting later on . Therefore , transience denotes the gradual change of a specific knowledge or idea into more general memories . </P>
loss of memory due to the passage of time during which the memory trace is not used
Transience