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'Just Sleep On It' Solves Tricky Problems?

Posted by michael on from the don't-let-the-bedbugs-bite dept.

An anonymous reader writes "CBC news reports that the effectiveness of 'sleeping on it' when faced with a difficult task may have more than just anecdotal roots. 66 students were trained to perform a calculation on an eight digit number using two simple rules which would take seven steps to complete. A different method existed to perform the same calculation 'almost instantly', but was not shown to the students. After eight hours, where half the students were allowed to sleep and the other half remained awake, 60% of the rested and 22% of the wakeful students discovered the more efficient method."

2 of 527 comments (clear)

  1. The story as reported by BBC news by cjellibebi · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3418017.stm

  2. Re:Rubbish. by gowen · · Score: 5, Informative
    Furthermore a single test with just 60 people is not enough to create a meaningful statistical evaluation of the experiment.
    Says who?

    Comparing two population proportions:
    n1=n2=30
    p1 = 0.6
    p2 = 0.22

    Null Hypothesis: Population proportions equal
    Pooled proption = 0.41; standard deviation = sqrt(0.41 * 0.59) = 0.49

    Z statistic = (p1-p2) / (sigma * sqrt(1/n1+1/n2)) =2.99

    p-value = 0.0014.

    That seems pretty significant to me. Go to the top of the class, and jump off.

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