Chapter : I

Zeigarnik Effect

Introduction

The Zeigarnik effect is a psychological phenomenon describing a tendency to remember

interrupted or incomplete tasks or events more easily than tasks that have been completed. This

phenomenon was first noticed in the early 1900s and has been reproduced in a number of studies.

The Zeigarnik effect was named after its founder, Russian psychiatrist and psychologist

Bluma Wulfovna Zeigarnik. While dining at a restaurant in the 1920s, Zeigarnik noticed waiters

were able to keep track of complex orders and unpaid meals, but once the orders were filled and

paid for, the waiters were unable to recall detailed information about the orders. Intrigued, she

decided to study the phenomenon via a series of experiments in her lab.

In one of her experiments, Zeigarnik asked a group of 138 children to complete a series

of simple tasks, puzzles, and arithmetic problems. She allowed the children to complete half of

the tasks and interrupted them during the remaining tasks. Zeigarnik investigated their recall

after an hour’s delay and discovered 110 of the 138 children had better recall for the interrupted

tasks than the completed tasks. In a related experiment involving adults, the participants were

able to recall unfinished tasks 90% better than completed tasks.

The Zeigarnik effect has since been studied by many other researchers, with some able to

replicate Zeigarnik’s findings and others unable to do so. Several models have been proposed to

explain the effect. Some theories mention the cognitive tension that arises from having an

unfinished task and the need to keep the task in mind in order to eventually complete it and
release this internal tension. Studies indicate other factors such as motivation, reward

expectancy, time of interruption, and the achievability of the required task may have a significant

impact on the strength of the Zeigarnik effect.

Implications for Everyday Life

Knowledge of the Zeigarnik effect can be put into use in everyday life.

Overcoming Procrastination. The, Zeigarnik effect suggests that the key to overcoming

procrastination is to just get started. The first step could be something small and seemingly

insubstantial. In fact, it’s probably best if it’s something fairly easy. The key, though, is that the

task has been started, but not completed. This will take up psychological energy that will lead the

task to intrude on our thoughts. It’s an uncomfortable feeling that will drive us to complete the

task, at which point we can let go and nolonger keep the task at the forefront of our minds.

Improving Study Habits. The Zeigarnik effect can also be useful for students who are

studying for an exam. The effect tells us that breaking up study sessions can actually improve

recall. So instead of cramming for an exam all in one sitting, breaks should be scheduled in

which the student focuses on somethingelse. This will cause intrusive thoughts about the

information that must be remembered that will enable the student to rehearse and consolidate it,

leading to better recall when they take the exam.

Impact on Mental Health. The Zeigarnik effect can improve mental health by providing

the motivation needed to finish tasks. And completing a task can give an individual a sense of

accomplishment and promote self-esteem and self-confidence. Completing stressful tasks, in

particular, can lead to a feeling of closure that can improve psychological well-being.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Hodgson, LaKind (2017), the aim of the experiment was Socially mediated Zeigarnik

effects as a function of sentiment, valence, and desire for goal attainment In a previous study,

Hornstein et al. (1971) explored anonymous and unrewarded facilitation of a stranger's goal

attainment under various conditions of sentiment. Continuing to investigate this area, the term

“promotive tension arousal” is introduced to label the process by which one person's tension

arousal is coordinated to another's interrupted goal attainment. The present natural field

experiment amplifies the work of Lewin, Deutsch, and Horwitz to confirm the following

predictions: more helping occurs when a liked other approaches a positive than a negative goal;

for a liked other with a strong desire for this positive goal, helping increases as the goal is

approached, while for a liked other with a strong desire for a negative goal, helping decreases as

the goal is neared. These results are interpreted as clearly evidencing approach and avoidance

gradients operating within a relationship that allows for the arousal of promotive tension.

Manalo, Nakatani (2018), the aim of the experiment was How failing to finish a task can

have a positive effect on motivation This study proposed and examined empirical evidence for

the Hemingway effect, which is that motivation to complete a task that a person has previously

failed to complete would be higher the closer that person perceives he/she was in finishing that

task. In Study 1, 260 undergraduate students were asked to copy newspaper text, but they were

interrupted in the process so that the majority failed to complete the task. When their reported

motivation to re-engage in the task to complete or continue it was analyzed, the results revealed

that those who had fewer remaining text to copy were significantly higher in such motivation

compared to those with more text remaining or even those who were able to finish the task –

thus, confirming the occurrence of the Hemingway effect. In Study 2, 131 undergraduate
students were administered a short writing task that was either structured or unstructured. Again,

they were interrupted so that the majority were not able to finish writing. The results revealed

that only the participants given the structured task evidenced the Hemingway effect. This finding

suggests thata necessary condition for the effect to manifest is being able to adequately gauge

what more needs to be done to complete an unfinished task (which the presence of structure

facilitated). In sum, the findings of this study indicate that under certain conditions, failure to

finish a task can have beneficial effects on motivation to persist and continue the task.

Implications for practice – particularly in educational contexts– are discussed.

Objective

To assess the influence of Zeigarnik effect on the recall of tasks.

Hypothesis

Respondents will remember the incomplete/interrupted tasks more than the complete

ones.

Material

 1 set of 5 tasks

 Pen

 Paper

 Blank sheet

 Eraser

 Stopwatch

 Laptop

Research design

The independent measure group design was used in the experiment. Experimental and

Control groups were selected on the basis of random assignment of participants.

Dependent Variable – Recall of the task

Independent Variable - Nature of the task

Subject

The subjects were 10 female students of BS psychology ( 3rd semester). Their age range

was between 18 to 20.

Instructions

I will give you one set consisting of 5 different tasks. When I say start you have to start

the first task and stop when I tell you to stop and we keep moving to the next task till we

complete the 5 tasks. The tasks are time bound so complete them as fast as you can.

Procedure

To determine how precisely the subject remember the completed and incompleted task

we offered the subject to perform 5 different tasks. The first task was brain teaser. The subject

was able to complete the task before I said her to stop. The next task was match the opposites. I

stopped the subject and we moved to the next task. The next task was odd one out, the subject

was able to complete the task in the given time .The next task was recall the words, the subjects

was stopped in the middle of the task. The last task was to find the hidden alphabets and subject

completed the task. Each participant were given one minute for the completion of each task. The

experimental group will be interrupted by music while performing the tasks.

 The lighting of the room was kept constant.

 No external noises should be present.

 Subject should be comfortable in the sitting arrangement.

 Aim should not to be told before experiment.

 Required materials should be available.

 Make sure you do not keep clock/stop watch nearby.

Table 1

[Link] NAME OF RECALLED [Link] NAME OF RECALLED

COMPLETED TASKS INCOMPLETE TASKS

TASKS TASKS
1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

5. 5.

TOTAL RECALLED
Percentage remembrance of = Recalled tasks ÷ total no. of tasks × 100

Complete task: =

Percentage remembrance of = Recalled tasks ÷ total no. of tasks × 100

Incomplete task: =

Table 2

[Link] Errors Time

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.