Aarav Saki (Week 16): The Zeigarnik Effect
This interesting observation made by Zeigarnik prompted her to conduct a study of her own, where she found results that corresponded to the behaviors of the waiters at Vienna; subjects were better at remembering an interrupted or ongoing task, as opposed to trying to recall it after it had been completed.
The effect was described by Zeigarnik as a result of the mind’s subconscious desire to finish what’s unfinished. In other words, the tension and anxiety that gnaws at us when a task is incomplete ultimately propels the memory of that task to the forefront of our minds.
This psychological phenomenon makes sense when I try to apply it to my own life. For example, whenever I am studying for an upcoming test, the related information seems to easily occupy most of my mind. But once the test is finished, I find that I rapidly lose my grasp on that information. In this sense, the test was the task at hand, and I forgot about it after finishing it.
But it is also important to note that Zeigarnik’s conclusions faced some criticism as well. According to another article, similar studies were conducted by other psychologists that found no such effect in its subjects. Even my aforementioned example could be explained by other factors; after all, once I finish a big test, I don’t study the related subject nearly as hard as before the test was taken.
Suffice to say, there are plenty of factors that scientists and researchers must consider when studying memory, which is a testament to how complex memory really is.
Photo Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-psychology/chapter/how-memory-functions/
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Hi Aarav,
ReplyDeleteIt is for this reason that if someone wanted to learn information about a particular subject to really understand the material, they would have to go beyond studying for the tests in a class. Most likely the information that they review before exam, will be forgotten after the exam has taken place. Motivation plays a huge role in the processing of information. People who are intrinsically motivated to learn something, are more inclined to remember the information than people motivated by rewards or external rewards.
Like many psychological concepts, memory and its related effects have been the subjects of intense debate for centuries. Whether or not Zeigarnik is right, it is admirable that her work inspired further research and investigations into this field. Perhaps such research will provide us with a definitive answer to Zeigarnik’s assertion.
ReplyDeleteHi Aarav, I learned many new things about the Zeigarnik effect from your blog. I found it interesting that the waiters forgot the order once it was completed. This makes sense as it would be pointless to remember something once it has already been completed (in most cases). I can definitely relate to forgetting topics after a test and having to re-study them.
ReplyDeleteHi Aarav, I found your blog about the degradation of memory to be very interesting. Although it has only been a few weeks since ap testing, I find myself slowly forgetting a lot of the content that we learned prior to the ap tests. As we no longer need to reference the knowledge, it is harder for us to recall and remember the information after a period of time. Memory is indeed a very interesting phenomenon, and the more we learn about it, the more gaps we realize we have yet to fill.
ReplyDeleteHi Aarav, your blog made me think of how my mind acts right after I take a test. After studying really hard and making sure I know everything for exam day, you would think that I would still remember the content after taking the test. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I suspect it is because our minds are able to identify that we do not need this information anymore.
ReplyDeleteHi Aarav, this is a very interesting concept. I guess now that i think about it it make sense that we would remember interrupted tasks rather than completed ones. we like solving problems, and it will bother us if we have an unfinished one.
ReplyDeleteHey Arnav, I understand that that the loss of memories is a topic of interest especially to us students and for the frequent tests that we have. However I believe that this degradation is something that is very important to our memory and mind.
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