THE ZEIGARNIK EFFECT
The Russian psychologist and theorist Bluma Zeigarnik (November 9, 1900–February 24, 1988) is best known for having discovered a phenomenon called the Zeigarnik effect. She first took an interest in the phenomenon when her professor, Gestalt psychologist Kurt Lewin, observed that waiters at a local eatery had better recollections of orders that had yet to be served than of those that had already been served. From that observation, she theorized that people have a tendency to remember things that are unfinished or incomplete. The Zeigarnik effect refers to the state of mental tension and unbalance caused by uncompleted tasks.
When website visitors arrive at a website and are met with many options and links leading to various ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access