Zeigarnik effect
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The Zeigarnik effect states that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed ones.
Russian 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.
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 higher mental processing (e.g., memory). The effect is in use as a plot device in TV series and movies for maintaining viewer interest (by use of a cliffhanger). Another implication of the effect is that students who wish to remember material better should leave learning unfinished when taking breaks.
[edit] References
- Zeigarnik, B. (1927). Das Behalten erledigter und unerledigter Handlungen. Psychologische Forschung, 9, 1-85.
- Zeigarnik, B. (1967). On finished and unfinished tasks. In W. D. Ellis (Ed.), A sourcebook of Gestalt psychology, New York: Humanities press.
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