Learning - the Zeigarnik effect

Here's an unusual but potentially very useful instructional strategy, one that takes advantage of peoples' need for resolution or for closure. The Zeigarnik effect states that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed ones.

Russian psychologies Bluma Zeigarnik first studied the phenomenon in the late 1920's after her professor, Gestalt psychologist Kurt Lewin, noticed that waiters remembered orders only as long as the order was in the process of being served.

Research indicates that:

1. the Zeigarnik effect is likely to appear if the subject is "ego-involved" in the task to some extent (such as in a learning activity)
2. the effect is more likely to appear if the task doesn't seem to be part of the training plan
3. the effect is most likely to appear if the subject has set a genuine level of aspiration in the interrupted task

Musicians intuitively use this effect when writing musical 'hooks,' or for concluding pieces of music. By using a "suspended" chord, where the third has been displaced by either of its dissonant neighbouring notes, forming intervals of a major second or (more commonly) a perfect fourth with the root. The resulting unexpected dissonance is then satisfyingly resolved by introducing the displaced note.

This can be heard to great effect in the main musical theme of Pinball Wizard by The Who (which transitions from a F#sus4 to a F#maj), or more sophisticatedly, as a plagal or "Amen" cadence in the final phrase of The Beatles' She's Leaving Home, or the coda (with typically Baroque flourishes) of Bach's Canon alla Decima, Contrapuncto alla Terza.

In Gestalt psychology, the Zeigarnik effect has been used to demonstrate the general presence of Gestalt phenomena: not just appearing as perceptual effects, but also present in cognition.

The implication of this is that learners who wish to remember material better should take breaks in unrelated fields or games before completing exercises.

... so the next time you see me playing Civilization 4 when I'm supposed to be writing that white paper, I'm learning.

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Constructivism, Learning Environments: An Introduction

There are a range of views on what the term ‘constructivism’ means in the context of learning, but it can be said that most definitions would agree that it has these characteristics:

• Learning is an active process of constructing rather than acquiring knowledge and
• Instruction is a process of supporting that construction rather than communicating knowledge.

(Duffy and Cunningham, 1996. p.171).

Bruner’s 1966 text Toward a Theory of Instruction described the key principles of constructivism (p.225):

Table 1 Principles of constructivism

Principle		Definition
Readiness		Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make the student willing and able to learn
Spiral organisation	Structure.	The content must be structured so that it can be grasped by the learner.
	Sequence.	Material must be presented in the most effective sequences.
Generation		“Going beyond the information given” - Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps

Extending from these basic constructivist principles as well as from the work of other key figures in the constructivist school, Driscoll (1994) outlines five conditions for learning (p.382-3). Very much like the multiple approaches and interpretations that exist in constructivism, a number of conditions must be met for the approach to be implemented. It is useful to elaborate briefly on these conditions, as they are relevant to the learning approach discussed in the rest of this part of the blog.

1. Providing complex learning environments that incorporate authentic activity. Constructivists argue that learners should learn to solve the types of complex problem they will face in real life. Learning how to do this is difficult unless complex and authentic learning environments are available to the learners.
2. Providing for social negotiation as an integral part of learning. Bruner (1986) explains that learning is a cultural interchange between group members. Collaboration creates an opportunity for learners to share their understandings with others and to have others do the same with them. This provides multiple perspectives to each learner, and this negotiation process between peers should lead to enhanced understanding.
3. Support multiple perspectives and the use of multiple modes of representation. Because learning skills, behaviours and knowledge can be diverse and complex, constructivists believe that to achieve complete understanding the learner must examine the material from multiple perspectives. If they are not supported in this endeavour, the learner will achieve only a partial understanding of the material. Multiple modes of representation allow the learner to view the same content through different sensory modes.
4. Nurture reflexivity. Duffy and Cunningham (1996) characterise reflexivity as “the ability of students to be aware of their own role in the knowledge construction process.” (p.172). It could also be described as the learner taking ownership of their own thinking and learning processes. Driscoll (1994) assets that reflexivity and by extension critical thinking are central attributes in the constructivist methodology, as it enables learners to understand how and why cognition creates meaning. This enables learners to attain goals such as reasoning, understanding multiple perspectives, and expressing and defending their own beliefs.
5. The last condition Driscoll describes is to “emphasise student-centred instruction.” Bruner (1966) calls this “discovery learning”. By obtaining knowledge by themselves, learners select and transform information, construct knowledge, and make decisions in the context of a cognitive structure that provides meaning and organisation to experiences and allows the individual to “go beyond the information given”. Students are actively engaged in determining what and how they will study or gain understanding.

These principles and conditions position the constructivist approach to learning as an appropriate orientation for learning sans frontiers; using technologies like the Internet, websites and virtual learning environments, applying collaborative learning, problem-based learning and goal-based mechanisms, making Open Source Software and Course- and Content Management Systems accessible to learners, and using e-learning applications like online conferencing and collaboration tools could be the foundation for these multiple constructivist conditions for learning. (Duffy & Jonassen 1992, Driscoll 1994; Schank 1994)

These characteristics provide an appropriate framework for knowledge workers to learn (and for the learning intervention), given that their ongoing development is based in the context of already-established cognitive schemata (from the learners’ perspective), the knowledge and skills are applied to solve real-world problems, and their expertise (behaviours) are typically used in collaboration with their peers to enhance the performance of organisations.

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References:

Bruner, J. S. (1966) Toward a Theory of Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

Driscoll, M. P. (1994). Psychology of learning for instruction. Boston, MA. Allyn & Bacon.

Duffy, T. M. & Cunningham, D. J. (1996) Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. IN: Jonassen D. H. (Ed) Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology (pp.170- 198). New York: Simon & Shuster Macmillan.

Jonassen, D. H., (1994). Thinking Technology: Toward a constructivist design model. Educational Technology, 34(3), 34-37.

Schank, R. (1994) Active Learning Through Multimedia, IEEE Multimedia, 1(1), pp.69-78.

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