Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T13:18:14.169Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Unfinished Processing in the Emotional Disorders: The Zeigarnik Effect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

Ian A. James  and
Katherine Kendell
Ian A. James
Affiliation:
Newcastle General Hospital
Katherine Kendell
Affiliation:
Priority Health Care Wearside, Sunderland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Intrusions and perseverations, although often associated with psychiatric disorders, have a functional role within the information processing system (Eberly, Harkness, & Engdhal, 1991). Research suggests that these phenomena act as conscious aide memoires (Kvavilashvili, 1987) informing the cognitive system that there are prospective tasks to be done (i.e. tasks started, or intentions made, but not finished). In the case of psychiatric problems, the intrusions and perseverations may reflect the presence of unresolved issues that require further processing. The current paper outlines this hypothesis and presents the Zeigarnik effect (Zeigarnik, 1927) as one potential factor amongst others helping to maintain the incidence of intrusions. The paper also describes the possible modus operandi of this effect in terms of post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder and general-anxiety disorder. A number of treatment strategies are discussed which may decrease the incidence of Zeigarnik intrusions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 25 , Issue 4 , October 1997 , pp. 329 - 337
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atkinson, J. W. (1953). The achievement motive and recall of interrupted and completed tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 46, 381–390.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T. (1996). Beyond belief: A theory of modes, personality and psychopathology. In Salkovskis, P. M. (Ed.), Frontiers of cognitive therapy. New York, NY: Guilford.Google Scholar
Bhavsar, V. H., Jha, R. J., Joshi, N., & Kelkar, V. (1992). Attrition of the Zeigarnik effect: Role of subjects' expectancy aroused by placebos. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 75, 12–18.Google Scholar
Borkovec, T. D. (1994). The nature, functions, and origins of worry. In Davey, G. C. L. & Tallis, (Eds.), Worrying: Perspectives on theory, assessment and treatment. Chichester: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Butterfield, E. C. (1964). The interruption of tasks: methodological factual and theoretical issues. Psychological Bulletin, 62, 309–322.Google Scholar
Dalgleish, T. (in press). Cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress disorder. In Yule, W. (Ed.), The post traumatic stress disorders. Chichester: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Eberly, R. E., Harkness, A. R. & Engdhal, (1991). An adaptational view or human trauma response as illustrated by the prisoner of war experience. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 4, 363–380.Google Scholar
Ecker, W. & Engelkamp, J. (1995). Memory for actions in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23 (4), 349–380Google Scholar
Gailene, D., Lepeshkene, V. & Shiurkute, A. (1980). Features of Zeigarnik effect in psychiatric clinical practice (Russian). Zhurnal Nevropatologii i Psikhiatrii Imeni S-S-Korsakova, 80(12), 1837–1841.Google Scholar
Gilovich, T. & Medvec, V. (1995). The experience of regret: What, when and why? Psychological Review, 102, 379–395.Google Scholar
Horowitz, M. J. (1986). Stress response syndromes (2nd Edition). Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.Google Scholar
Ietswaart, W. L. (1995). Szene and Symbol als treibende Kraefte. Psyche Zeitschrift für Psychoanalayse and ihre Anwendungen, 49(2), 141–158.Google Scholar
Kahneman, D. & Tversky, A. (1982). The psychology of preferences. Scientific American, 246, 160–173.Google Scholar
Kvavilashvili, L. (1987). Remembering intention as a distinct form of memory. British Journal of Psychology, 78, 507–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNamara, J. & Lister-Ford, C. (1995). Ego states and the psychology of memory. Transactional Analysis Journal, 25(2), 141–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Leary, E. (1996). Counselling older adults. London: Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Power, M. & Dalgleish, T. (1997). Cognition and emotion from order to disorder. Hove: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Reed, G. (1985). Obsessional experiences and compulsive behaviour. A cognitive-structural approach. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Reeve, J., Cole, S., & Olson, B. (1986). The Zeigarnik effect and intrinsic motivation: Are they the same? Motivation and Emotion, 10, 233–245.Google Scholar
Resick, P. A. (1992). Cognitive treatment of crime-related post-traumatic stress disorder. In Peters, R. D., McMahan, R., & Quinsey, V. L. (Eds.), Aggression and violence throughout the life span (pp. 171–191). Newbury Park, Ca: Sage.Google Scholar
Resick, P. A. & Schnicke, M. K. (1992). Cognitive processing therapy for sexual assault victims. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60(5), 748–756.Google Scholar
Salkovskis, P. M. (1985). Obsessional-compulsive problems: A cognitive behavioural analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 25, 571–583.Google Scholar
Salkovskis, P. M. (1996). The cognitive approach to anxiety: Threat-beliefs, safety-seeking behaviour, and the special case of health anxiety and obsession. In Salkovskis, P. M. (Ed.), Frontiers of cognitive therapy. New York, NY: Guilford.Google Scholar
Savitsky, K., Husted-Medvec, V., & Gilovich, T. (1997). Remembering and regretting: The Zeigarnik Effect and the cognitive availability of regrettable actions and inactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(3), 248–257.Google Scholar
Shiurkute, (1993). The Zeigarnik effect in schizophrenic patients with obsessions. Zhurnal Nevropatologii i Psikhiatrii Imeni S-S-Korsakova, 93(4), 63–65.Google Scholar
Spranca, M., Minsk, E. & Baron, J. (1991). Omission and commission in judgement of choice. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 27, 76–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teasdale, J. D.Barnard, P. (1993). Affect, cognition and change: Re-modelling depressive thought. Hove, UK: Erlbraum.Google Scholar
Wells, A. (1995). Meta-cognition and worry: A cognitive model of Generalised Anxiety Disorder. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23(3), 301–320.Google Scholar
Zeigarnik, B. (1927). Über das Behalten von erledigten und unerledigten Hand-lungen. In Lewin, K. (Ed), Untersuchungen sur Handlungs und Affektpsychologie. Psychologische Forschung, 9, 1–85.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.