The Zeigarnik effect is a psychological phenomenon that was discovered in a Berlin cafe. To this day, it is actively used in Gestalt therapy and to increase productivity. By describing the features of psychological processes that develop in the absence of a logical conclusion to a matter, the Bluma Zeigarnik effect helps explain the nature of feelings such as anxiety and guilt.
Have you ever encountered unpleasant feelings in a relationship when the dialogue has already ended, but its development in thoughts continues? Or maybe a difficulty that has long been in the past still inspires fear and haunts you? Such situations in psychology are designated by an incomplete gestalt and are clear examples of the Zeigarnik effect.
Bluma Zeigarnik and her important discovery
The discovery of this interesting effect of unfinished action was made by the Soviet psychologist Bluma Vulfovna Zeigarnik while still a student. While talking in a cafe with her thesis supervisor, Kurt Lewin, she drew attention to the behavior of one waiter. He served customers without a pen and notepad, which other employees actively used.
Together with her mentor, she called the waiter over and asked him to remember what dishes the visitors at the next table ordered. He easily listed a considerable list, without missing a single item. Then Bluma and Kurt asked him about the order of the visitors who had already paid and left the cafe. And then the waiter could not remember a single dish, although he had previously given the order to the cook absolutely accurately.
The student was very interested in this case. While searching for an explanation for the cafe employee's phenomenal memory and its instantaneous “switching off,” she made an amazing discovery. It turns out that completed and unfinished tasks have different meanings for a person. She developed and studied this idea, which was later recognized by official psychology and named after her - the Bluma Zeigarnik effect.
Scientific activity of Bluma Vulfovna
During the Great Patriotic War, after the evacuation from Moscow, Bluma Vulfovna worked at the Kisegach neurosurgical hospital in the Urals and actively participated in restoring the mental activity of the seriously wounded. The results of these studies were later published.
During this period, her scientific and personal contacts with many outstanding psychologists of the country strengthened - A.R. Luria, A.N. Leontyev, A.V. Zaporozhets, S.G. Gellerstein and others. Subsequently B.V. Zeigarnik spoke of her with great kindness and love, mentioning that at that time, under the influence of communication with psychologists of the Vygotsky school, her idea of pathopsychology as a special field of knowledge was formed.
In the post-war years, Bluma Vulfovna worked at the Research Institute of Psychiatry of the Ministry of Health of the RSFSR, where until 1967 she headed the laboratory of experimental pathopsychology that she founded. At this time, many outstanding Russian psychiatrists became her scientific partners: M.Yu. Babansky, V.V. Sereysky, S.G. Zhislin, I.G. Ravkin, G.E. Sukhareva, D.E. Melekhov and others.
During this period of severe ideological repression, the growing physiology of psychiatry (especially after the famous “Pavlov’s meetings” of 1950), clinicians of the old school of doctors not only remained faithful to the best traditions of psychiatry of the past (which could not imagine effective work with psychiatric patients without psychology), but also supported Zeigarnik and her “young” laboratory were defended. In particular, she felt reliable protection from Professor D.E. Melekhov, the former director of the Institute of Psychiatry at the time when the trial of the “killer doctors” was being prepared. It was he who helped save the laboratory and keep her on the staff of the institute (although there had already been a decision to dismiss her). During these years, she conducted an extensive series of studies that became the scientific foundation of modern psychology.
At the same time, B.V. Zeigarnik began teaching a course in pathopsychology, first at the Psychological Institute of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, then (since 1966) at the Psychological Institute. Since 1967, she became a professor at the Faculty of Psychology, where she enthusiastically continued her work until the last days of her life. Merits of B.V. Zeigarnik were awarded the Lomonosov Prize of the 1st degree (1978) and the International Prize named after K.V. Levin (1983). Bluma Volfovna belonged to a generation that suffered greatly from wars, the Russian Revolution with all its social consequences, totalitarianism and repression. The wheel of history left deep marks (or rather wounds) in her destiny. This could not help but shape her personality and her entire worldview. What she was like in her youth, while working in Berlin with K. Levin, we will never know. There are no contemporaries or eyewitnesses left. Bluma Vulfovna herself, like many people of her generation who remember that time, talked little about herself, sparingly and reluctantly. Of course, those who knew her after returning from Germany (A.N. Leontyev, S.Ya. Rubenstein) recalled that she gave the impression of a brilliant, cheerful person, gifted in everything.
What is the psychological phenomenon of Zeigarnik?
Briefly speaking about the Zeigarnik effect, it comes down to explaining the influence of an unfinished action on a person’s state. Without completing a task, people cannot calm down and relax. An example would be an important conversation with a spouse that is interrupted by someone in the middle. Lack of agreement leads to tension and uncertainty in relationships. A person cannot relax and switch to other things; thoughts about the conversation constantly pop up in his memory.
Based on his observations, here is what Bluma Zeigarnik writes about this in the book “Patopsychology”: “When an action is not completed, the intention remains unfulfilled, a certain affective activity is created (in the terminology of K. Levin, a “dynamic system”), which manifests itself in a different form activity - in this case in reproduction."
Speaking briefly about how exactly the Zeigarnik effect unfolds, in psychology they denote the following sequence:
- Starting any task creates tension in a person’s memory.
- Tension tends to end, influencing behavior.
- The tension is released as soon as the end of the matter is realized.
By nature, a person is designed in such a way that he feels comfort and a sense of satisfaction only from solving a task and completing the work process. Such a direction as Gestalt psychology talks about this in more detail.
What to remember
- The Zeigarnik effect is the brain's desire to complete unfinished tasks.
- It occurs due to cognitive stress, which constantly returns the task to the brain's working memory.
- Divide the material you are studying into parts and take breaks during the study process - this will help you remember better.
- To beat procrastination, take a small first step. This will trigger the Zeigarnik effect - your brain will strive to finish the job.
- This method is not effective if you are paid for the work and not the result; and in cases where you have too many unfulfilled tasks.
Closed gestalt and its place in the Zeigarnik effect
The discovery of the Zeigarnik effect in psychology became one of the starting points in the formation of the basic principles of well-being in the direction of Gestalt (German: Gestalt - holistic image). They come down to completeness and integrity, which create the basic prerequisites for a sense of personal satisfaction.
The basis for this belief is the peculiarity of the psyche, which consists in the fact that it is capable of translating only completed cases into experience. That is, relaxation occurs only after a completed image of the task or situation is formed. The absence of its logical ending entails the flow of energy in the direction that worries a person. Prolonged leakage and tension cause neurosis and other health problems. This state is referred to among specialists as “open gestalt.”
When the situation reaches its logical conclusion, the tension in the memory, according to the Zeigarnik effect, goes away, making room for pleasant sensations. But you shouldn’t hysterically try to achieve such a result on your own, because sometimes it’s simply impossible to close the gestalt on your own. For example, when a choice in the past has already been made, it is impossible to change it and the resulting consequences that haunt you. In this case, only a specialist will finally help the person, using different methods of completing the image (games and others).
Creation of scientific foundations of pathopsychology
The whole life of B.V. Zeigarnik was subordinated to the idea of creating the scientific foundations of a new field of knowledge - pathopsychology. She devoted all her creativity, energy and intellect to defending (often in discussions with other psychiatrists) the professional autonomy of this field of science and practice.
She understood psychology as a humanitarian science, built on a system of sciences about man and society. Attempts to biologize and mathematize psychology were sharply criticized and viewed as blunt reductionism, neglect of the real subject of psychological research.
For B.V. Zeigarnik pathopsychology is a part of psychology, not medicine or psychiatry. In accordance with this understanding of the subject of pathopsychology, she identified and described a special class of psychological phenomenology, qualitatively different from psychiatric phenomenology. These are psychological phenomena of deviations in cognitive activity in mental illness (pathology of thinking, memory, perception, etc.), personality disorders and emotional-volitional spheres of patients. He created a new taxonomy of these phenomena, based on psychological criteria. He also studied a number of basic psychological patterns underlying mental disorders: Changes, distortions in the motivational connection of mental activity, various disorders in the system of mediation and self-regulation of the individual. All this made it possible to approach the identification of a special class of syndromes - pathopsychological, which, in turn, opened up new prospects for research and practical psychodiagnostics in the clinic of mental illnesses.
The problem of the relationship between intelligence and affect, one of the central problems for psychology to this day, was the most important for B.V. Zeigarnik, and she constantly returned to it, both in scientific publications and in oral presentations and in conversations with her students. Thus, she herself is a person who harmoniously combines rationality with high sensitivity, emotional receptivity and such a subtle expression of feelings. Common sense, the ability to look “at the root” of a problem, to see the essence behind the facade of events, were harmoniously combined with the romance of science and life, the spiritual height of thoughts and goals. Bluma Vulfovna had a clear and deep mind. Her scientific texts were transparent and simple. Simplicity in the presentation of complex scientific positions was the main principle of her scientific work. She loved simple language and was critical of its “littering” with anglicisms, slang expressions, etc.
Bluma Vulfovna was a person of long development. Her development continued until the last days of her life. Being of a harmonious disposition, she was always wary and suspicious of any “creation” in human development, of any gap and distortion. In everyday life and in professional cooperation, she tried to avoid people with personality defects, disharmony, emotional “maladjustment,” that is, with what psychologists call an inferiority complex.
Great life goals can only be realized by a person with a strong, persistent character. Bluma Vulfovna had such a character. The hardships of life seemed to have tempered her; she did not lose optimism, faith in people, and retained a burning thirst for knowledge, especially human knowledge.
Following the doctors of the past, for whom everything was important in assessing a person: gait, speech, gaze, handshake, etc., B.V. Zeigarnik also considered all these external manifestations important, knew how to see and evaluate them and create a psychological portrait of a person. She used them to train psychology students, young professionals, and her colleagues.
She was very skeptical about the possibility of widespread use of psychotherapy. According to B.V. Zeigarnik, a developed, harmoniously organized personality should be able to “tune” his inner world. She believed that immature people, with an unformed system of psychological self-regulation, needed psychotherapy.
Experimental study of the Zeigarnik effect
To confirm or refute the discovered phenomenon, Blum, together with his fellow student Maria Ovsyankina, organized a special experiment. During the test, the subjects were given various intellectual tasks. These included puzzles, arithmetic, clay modeling and building buildings from cardboard boxes.
During the experiment, the subjects were periodically interrupted, not allowing them to complete some task. They were told that the time to complete it had run out and were encouraged to move on to the next one. After completing the experiment, participants were asked to recall and describe the problems that needed to be solved. In 90% of cases, the tasks that were voiced were those that were not completed by the subjects. This confirmed Zeigarnik’s assumption that unfinished business receives a special status in our minds and cannot be completely forgotten until the moment of completion.
How does he work
While studying the manifestations of the effect, scientists introduced the concept of cognitive tension. As soon as you start performing a task, a certain tension is created in the brain. You can only get rid of it if you complete the task and receive your dose of dopamine as a reward.
If you haven't finished something, your brain will constantly remind you of it. Cognitive stress promotes the return of an unfinished task to short-term memory. It will remind you of it until you complete it.
How is the Zeigarnik effect used today?
This psychological phenomenon is successfully used by modern media and advertising agencies. It is on this that the desire to watch series to the end is based. Moreover, even in situations where the plot does not particularly correspond to a person’s personal interests, the desire to build a holistic image of what is happening in the mind pushes one to watch the next series.
By skillfully playing on the importance of unfinished business, marketers lead us to the transition on the Internet to the desired page offering a service or product. For example, they create a banner with an ad that breaks at the most interesting point. It is often difficult to resist reading a sentence to the end.
In personal life, this effect also finds its place in the development of relationships. For example, when, after meeting, interested lovers are forced to abruptly separate, they often cannot forget each other for a long time. The feelings that flared up in them found neither confirmation nor disappointment. They hung in the mind with a certain uncertainty that did not allow one to calm down and leave thoughts about the other person in the past.
When does it appear?
People who experience psychological problems as adults have suffered some kind of trauma or still hold grudges from childhood. They cannot let go and forgive the offender. Unpleasant memories sit in your head and do not allow you to move on - the gestalt is open. As soon as a person understands his internal state, emotional release and relief will come.
A person in love can also experience the effect. For example, once a guy and a girl loved each other, but circumstances played a cruel joke, and one of them had to leave or simply break off the relationship. The one who experienced strong feelings will remember the other even after 10-20 years. Their relationship did not end, but was interrupted, so the gestalt is not closed.
Zeigarnik decided to take into account additional factors that play an important role in the classic experiment: social, personal, motivational, and so on. For example, a tense atmosphere during problem solving has a beneficial effect on the memorability of the problem. Accordingly, if the atmosphere is relaxed, then the interrupted task will leave a less noticeable trace in the memory. Considering the characteristics of the cognitive function of the brain, you can use this effect to your advantage. The main thing is to know how to use it correctly.
Books about the Zeigarnik effect
More information about the manifestation of this psychological phenomenon in life, as well as about research around it, can be found in the relevant literature:
- Bluma Zeigarnik "Patopsychology".
- Sergey Stepanov “Living psychology. Lessons from famous experiments."
- John Goth.
- Rolf Dobelli “Territory of Delusions. What mistakes do smart people make?
Scientific research
Studies of the discovered effect were carried out in different versions:
- Voluntary participants in the experiment were divided into two groups. People from the first group received tasks that they could completely complete. Other volunteers were deliberately distracted, preventing them from completing the proposed task. After a few days, participants were asked about the content of the tasks. Those of them who were unable to complete the task spoke in detail about all its nuances. In contrast, the volunteers who fully completed the task described the details rather vaguely.
- In the 60s researcher John Baddeley continued the experiments, making some changes to them. Test participants were given a specific time to solve the anagrams. When they failed the task, they were shown an answer word. Later, volunteers were asked to remember the word in anagrams. The memory worked fastest for those problems that could not be solved. This confirmed Zeigarnik’s conclusion about maintaining a clear memory of unfinished or interrupted activities or information.
Bluma Zeigarnik herself, who conducted numerous experiments, discovered the following pattern: participants were able to remember unfinished tasks 90% better than in cases where they performed repeated completed actions.
Confirmation of the Zeiganik effect
The Zeigarnik effect would be of limited use if it could not be replicated, so following Zeigarnik's publication, numerous studies were conducted to replicate her findings. These studies have produced mixed results, but generally support her initial claims.
Zeiganik is one of the most famous psychologists of the USSR and the founder of pathapsychology training in the USSR
British psychologist John Baddeley conducted an experiment in 1963 in which participants were asked to solve a set of anagrams, each within a set period of time. If they were unable to solve the anagram in time, they would be given a solution. When he asked participants to recall "solution" words, he found that participants were more likely to remember anagrams they had not solved than ones they had completed, confirming the case of the Zeigarnik effect (Baddeley, 1963)
In another study, American psychologist John Atkinson focused on the motivational aspects of task performance. He also observed the Zeigarnik effect on memory, but noted that memory for incomplete tasks was also influenced by individual differences between participants . Atkinson noted that those people who approached tasks with higher motivation to complete them would be more concerned about what they failed to accomplish and more likely to remember them. But if the participant was less motivated, the incomplete task status would be less meaningful and therefore less memorable to them.
Influence of psychological effect
A scientifically proven psychological phenomenon helps increase efficiency at work.
It is necessary to take into account both internal and external influencing factors:
- the importance of completing a specific procedure, the level of emotionality increases the excitement of incompleteness;
- the reward that a person will miss from unfulfilled work;
- self-esteem.
The occurrence of the Zeigarnik effect also depends on the degree of its significance.
With low self-esteem, an employee stops remembering things. If he values himself beyond measure, he takes on any responsibilities due to great motivation. It is human nature to remember victories for a long time and forget defeats. People often, although not everyone succeeds, cross out unpleasant events and situations. This does not apply to work; an unresolved, forgotten task remains hidden in the background and affects the mood.
Scientists have concluded that the brains of people with schizophrenia do not work the same way for everyone.
