“On Finished and Unfinished Tasks [Über Das Behalten Von Erledigten Und Unerledigten Handlungen / On The Recall of Finished and Unfinished Tasks]”, 1927 (; similar):
[PsycNET summary of translated article on the Zeigarnik effect:
An intention implies not so much a predetermined opportunity for its realization as it does a need or quasi-need whose dynamic state of tension makes opportunities. Therefore it may be asked whether such a need functions only to accomplish this task or whether the state of tension also influences other aspects of the person’s behavior.
In the present study we shall investigate the influence of such tensions upon an achievement of memory. Specifically we shall seek to answer the question: What is the relation between the status in memory of an activity which has been interrupted before it could be completed and of one which has not been interrupted? We suspect that an unsatisfied quasi-need probably does influence even purely memorial retention.
The experiments reported here were conducted with 164 individual subjects (students, teachers, children), and in addition there were 2 group experiments (47 adults, 45 children). (The complete version of this article appeared as “Über das Behalten von erledigten und unerledigten Handlungen”, Psychol. Forsch., 1927, 9, pg1–85.)]