Think about the last vacation you took, the last concert you attended or even the last difficult conversation you had. When someone asks how it went, you probably do not replay every minute from beginning to end. Instead, a few moments tend to come back first, especially the most intense part and the way everything ended. Psychology says this is not unusual. Research on the peak-end rule suggests that when people evaluate an experience afterward, they can give disproportionate weight to its emotional peak and its ending rather than considering every moment equally. This helps explain why a long stressful day can sometimes be remembered positively if it finishes beautifully, while an otherwise enjoyable experience can leave a disappointing impression after an unpleasant ending. Memory is not a perfect recording of everything that happened. It is a reconstruction shaped by what the brain considers most important.
