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Why Do We Remember Unfinished Events More?

Humanitarian Science Psychology Science
24.05.2023
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Why Do We Remember Unfinished Events More?

The Unfinished Business Effect: Zeigarnik

Zeigarnik is a psychological phenomenon that refers to the easier recall of unfinished, divided, or incomplete tasks or events compared to completed ones. It has been extensively studied and observed in scientific research, shedding light on why unfinished events tend to be remembered more vividly.

Origin of the Term Bluma Wulfovna Zeigarnik, a Russian psychologist and psychiatrist born in 1901, had the opportunity to observe this phenomenon through waiters.

The Story Behind

In the early 1920s, Bluma Zeigarnik, along with a group of psychologists that included her doctoral thesis advisor Kurt Kewin, the founder of positive psychology, went to a restaurant at Berlin University to have a meal. They noticed that the waiter was not writing down the orders but keeping them in mind. Intrigued by this observation, Zeigarnik asked the waiter how he managed to remember everything. The waiter explained that he mentally noted the orders and then erased them from his mind after delivering the meals to the customers. Bluma Zeigarnik and her mentor Kurt Kewin found this skill fascinating and decided to conduct various experiments on this phenomenon (“What is the Zeigarnik Effect?”, 2016).

Experiments and Research

  1. Experiment

A group of participants was instructed to arrange beads of different colors, and they were told to stop working once they completed the arrangement of 15 beads. When asked which color bead they remembered first, it was found that the unfinished bead was remembered more frequently.

  1. Experiment

The participants were divided into two groups and asked to engage in reading. In the first group, participants were unable to pay attention to the details of the text because they were not occupied with any other task. In the second group, participants were given the task of reading while having other tasks to do. It was observed that the participants in the second group successfully completed the reading task with high concentration. The brain, being occupied with other tasks in the background, tried to maximize focus on the current task.

  1. Experiment

Years after the initial experiments, a group of participants were asked to complete a puzzle for monetary compensation. The experiment was designed to end when the puzzle was halfway completed, and participants were paid accordingly. However, it was observed that participants continued working on the puzzle even after the experts left the room, indicating that the brain instilled a sense of completion and motivated them to continue.

Contemporary Usage

Whether consciously or unconsciously, we frequently encounter the Zeigarnik effect in various digital platforms today. For example, when TV series go on a commercial break, displaying the text “To Be Continued” in a corner of the screen helps keep the audience’s attention. In literature, blogs, and articles, cutting off the text at the most exciting part with ellipses (…) is an example of utilizing this effect, just as Charles Dickens serialized his novel “Oliver Twist” by leaving readers in suspense at critical moments.

Conclusion

“The thinking brain strives to fulfill the command received from the responsibility center, to complete the unfinished loop.” (The Urantians, n.d.)

Thanks to this instinctual mechanism, we remember our responsibilities better and don’t forget the unfinished parts. In the case of unfinished relationships, the brain desires to complete the relationship, making it even more difficult for us to forget. Ultimately, it is not the problems we solved but the ones we couldn’t solve that remain in our minds, even from our elementary school days.

Author: Yade Mulla

Editor: Emine Türal

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