Interruption, recall and resumption: a meta-analysis of the Zeigarnik and Ovsiankina effects

Abstract

The memory advantage of unfinished tasks (Zeigarnik effect) is widely known; less well known is the related tendency to resume unfinished tasks (Ovsiankina effect). The memory advantage of unfinished tasks, however, has proven particularly difficult to replicate. Here, we present a meta-analysis of the Zeigarnik and Ovsiankina effects. We computed several associated measures, which were weighted across studies to compute single synthesized values for the recollection and resumption of interrupted tasks. We found no memory advantage for unfinished tasks but found a general tendency to resume tasks. We discuss the Zeigarnik effect’s potential dependency on situational influences and individual differences, such as the experimenter’s authority, situational demands of task performance, and task involvement. These circumstances were more prevalent historically and are rarer today, which could explain the difficulty in replicating the Zeigarnik effect. Conclusively, the Ovsiankina effect represents a general tendency, whereas the Zeigarnik effect lacks universal validity.