Zeigarnik effect

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In psychology, the Zeigarnik effect states that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than
completed tasks. In Gestalt psychology, the Zeigarnik effect has been used to demonstrate the general presence
of Gestalt phenomena: not just appearing as perceptual effects, but also present in cognition.[1]

Contents
1 Overview
2 Criticism
3 See also
4 Notes
5 Bibliography
6 External links

Overview
Psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik first studied the phenomenon after her professor, Gestalt psychologist Kurt
Lewin, noticed that a waiter had better recollections of still unpaid orders. However, after the completion of the
task after everyone had paid he was unable to remember any more details of the orders. Zeigarnik then
designed a series of experiments to uncover the dynamic facts underlying this phenomenon. Her research report
was published in 1927.[2]

The advantage of remembrance can be explained by looking at Lewin's field theory: a task that has already
been started establishes a task-specific tension, which improves cognitive accessibility of the relevant
contents.[3] The tension is relieved upon completion of the task. If the task is interrupted, the reduction of
tension is impeded. Through continuous tension, the content is made more easily accessible, and can be easily
remembered.[3]

The Zeigarnik effect suggests that students who suspend their study, during which they do unrelated activities
(such as studying unrelated subjects or playing games), will remember material better than students who
complete study sessions without a break (McKinney 1935; Zeigarnik, 1927).

The Zeigarnik effect should not be confused with the Ovsiankina effect. Maria Ovsiankina was a colleague of
Bluma Zeigarnik who investigated the effect of task interruption on the tendency to resume the task at the next
opportunity.[4]

Criticism
The reliability of the effect has been a matter of some controversy.[5] Several studies attempting to replicate
Zeigarnik's experiment, done later in other countries, failed to find significant differences in recall between
finished and unfinished (interrupted) tasks (e.g. Van Bergen, 1968). It seems that the effect depends on
additional factors, most above all on the importance of the interrupted task for the person.

See also
List of cognitive biases
Getting Things Done
Notes
1. cf. Kurt Koffka, Principles of Gestalt Psychology, 1935, pp 334ff.
2. Zeigarnik 1927: Das Behalten erledigter und unerledigter Handlungen . Psychologische Forschung 9, 1-85.
3. Kurt Lewin, A Dynamic Theory of Personality, 1935, pp 243ff
4. Ovsiankina 1928: Die Wiederaufnahme unterbrochener Handlungen. In: Psychologische Forschung 1 (3/4), 302379.
5. Einstein, Gilles O.; McDaniel, Mark A.; W illiford, Carrie L.; Pagan, Jason L.; Dismukes, R
. Key (2003). "Forgetting of
intentions in demanding situations is rapid."(http://wayback.archive.org/web/20160304230412/http://human-factors.arc.
nasa.gov/flightcognition/Publications/JEPapplied03.pdf)(PDF). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied . 9 (3):
147162. doi:10.1037/1076-898X.9.3.147(https://doi.org/10.1037%2F1076-898X.9.3.147). "[...] there is controversy
regarding the reliability of the Zeigarnik effect [...]"

Bibliography
Zeigarnik, B. (1927). Das Behalten erledigter und unerledigter Handlungen. Psychologische Forschung,
9, 1-85. Translated in English as:
Zeigarnik, B. (1967). On finished and unfinished tasks. In W. D. Ellis (Ed.), A sourcebook of Gestalt
psychology, New York: Humanities press.
Denmark, Florence L. (2010). "Zeigarnik Effect". In Weiner, Irving B.; Craighead, W. Edward. The
Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. pp. 18731874.
ISBN 9780470170236. doi:10.1002/9780470479216.corpsy0924.

External links
Zeigarnik Effect at psychwiki
Study advice
Marketing usage

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Categories: Memory processes Educational psychology Cognitive biases Learning

This page was last edited on 9 May 2017, at 16:59.

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