What is the main idea of the passage?

Unfinished goals can remain active in attention and memory, but the effect varies with tasks, people, and conditions. (The passage introduces the tendency, explains possible value and distraction, and repeatedly limits the claim.)

Why might a clear next action reduce distraction?

It records how to resume, giving the unfinished goal more structure and closure. (The example contrasts a specific resumable action with the vague word “project.”)

What does “closure” mean here?

a sense that something has been settled or given an endpoint (An incomplete task lacks an ending; a recorded next step may reduce that unresolved feeling.)

Who is the effect named after?

Bluma Zeigarnik (The second paragraph directly names psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik.)

Why Unfinished Tasks Stay With Us: Level 2 Reading Comprehension Questions

A server takes several meal orders without writing them down, yet remembers each one until it is delivered. Later, the finished orders become harder to recall. An unfinished goal can sometimes remain mentally active because the mind is still tracking what needs to happen next.

This pattern is linked to the Zeigarnik effect, named after psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik. In early research, interrupted activities were sometimes remembered better than completed ones. The broad claim is memorable, but results depend on the task, interruption, motivation, and way memory is tested.

An unfinished task may also return to mind because it lacks closure. That can help someone resume work, or it can become distracting. A practical response is to record a clear next action. Writing “email the revised map to Jo” may reassure the mind more than writing the vague word “project.”

The effect does not mean every incomplete job remains unforgettable. It describes one possible influence on attention and recall, not a rule for all minds.

Comprehension questions