From the course: Universal Principles of Design

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Zeigarnik effect

Zeigarnik effect

From the course: Universal Principles of Design

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Zeigarnik effect

- [Instructor] Hi, I'm Jill Butler, and this is the Universal Principles of Design. In this movie the Zeigarnik effect, or the allure of a half-baked cake. In the early 1880s a simple sliding puzzle called a 15 puzzle took the world by storm. You've probably played with the 15 puzzle at some point, or at least seen one. The puzzle is a square frame containing 15 numbered tiles arranged in a 4x4 grid. A single empty space allows the tiles to shift position one at a time. The puzzle is solved when all 15 tiles are arranged in order from one through 15, starting in the top left and ending with the empty space. It looks easy, but solving it can be positively maddening. In fact, rumors swirled that insane asylums were filling with frustrated puzzlers. People offered rewards to anyone who could solve the puzzle. Songs, poems, and political cartoons of the time referenced the puzzle. It was a pop culture sensation. 100 years later in the 1980s, the Rubik's Cube similarly captured the…

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