In order to be sure that the items on the lists that he learned would be unfamiliar, Ebbinghaus

A) learned lists of foreign words.
B) spelled all the words backwards.
C) invented nonsense syllables.
D) had his students make up the lists.

Nonsense Syllables

Nonsense syllables are sets of letters that have no meaning, used in psychological experiments to study memory and learning.

Foreign Words

Words that are borrowed from other languages and used in a different language without translation.

Memorization

The process of committing something to memory or learning it by heart, often through repetition.