88. Peak Ending
Highlights
- What Happened Next?
Summary:
Over two thirds of the participants chose to repeat the longer submersion, keep the hand in cold water longer. Those who didn't notice much of a difference, they chose the shorter submersion. And all this supports what is known as the peak end pattern. What happens at the end of an event can disproportionately impact our perception and memory of it.
Transcript:
Speaker 1
And what happened next was, on the surface, almost paradoxical. Over two thirds of the participants chose to repeat the longer submersion, keep the hand in cold water longer. It didn't matter if they had done the 60 or 90 seconds first, whether it was their dominant hand or their non dominant hand, none of that made a difference. What did make a difference was what they experienced in real time. Those who reported a larger decrease in discomfort when the water was made warmer, oh, y, the're just a little better, they chose to go again for the full 90 seconds. Those who didn't notice much of a difference, they chose the shorter submersion. Most of the subjects said that the longer trial felt better, even though they had just as much, just as long unpleasantness as the shorter submersion. Both times they had their hand in cold water for at least a minute. And all this supports what is known as the peak end pattern. What happens at the end of an event can disproportionately impact our perception and memory of it. And it's not just this hand in cold water experiment. Multiple other studies have borne this out. (Time 0:02:13)