Glossary // Glossary term Empirical
Peak-end rule
The finding that retrospective evaluations of an experience are dominated by its most intense moment and by how it ends, while its duration is largely neglected. In one demonstration, participants preferred to repeat a longer episode of cold-water discomfort that ended slightly less unpleasantly over a shorter one. For pleasant episodes, a strong peak and a good ending can make an experience remembered as more restorative than its lasting effects justify. Why a restorative experience can leave the underlying difficulty unchanged: negative reinforcement, experiential avoidance, acute mood effects of exercise, rumination and the peak-end rule. The works the definition rests on, with the level of evidence each was appraised at. (1993). Duration neglect in retrospective evaluations of affective episodes. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.65.1.45 Supports the claim of duration neglect: retrospective evaluations were little affected by duration. Film clips in the laboratory, not real-life episodes. (1993). When more pain is preferred to less: Adding a better end. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1993.tb00589.x Supports the claim that a majority chose to repeat the longer trial that ended less painfully, consistent with peak and end effects. A single paradigm of mild physical discomfort.Where the site uses it
Studies behind it