| Title |
Sleep on it, but only if it is difficult: Effects of sleep on problem solving
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Memory & Cognition, October 2012
|
| DOI | 10.3758/s13421-012-0256-7 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Ut Na Sio, Padraic Monaghan, Tom Ormerod |
| Abstract |
Previous research has shown that performance on problem solving improves over a period of sleep, as compared with wakefulness. However, these studies have not determined whether sleep is beneficial for problem solving or whether sleep merely mitigates against interference due to an interruption to solution attempts. Sleep-dependent improvements have been described in terms of spreading activation, which raises the prediction that an effect of sleep should be greater for problems requiring a broader solution search. We presented participants with a set of remote-associate tasks that varied in difficulty as a function of the strength of the stimuli-answer associations. After a period of sleep, wake, or no delay, participants reattempted previously unsolved problems. The sleep group solved a greater number of difficult problems than did the other groups, but no difference was found for easy problems. We conclude that sleep facilitates problem solving, most likely via spreading activation, but this has its primary effect for harder problems. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 76 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 26 | 34% |
| Canada | 5 | 7% |
| United Kingdom | 3 | 4% |
| Japan | 1 | 1% |
| Ireland | 1 | 1% |
| Sweden | 1 | 1% |
| Singapore | 1 | 1% |
| Andorra | 1 | 1% |
| Norway | 1 | 1% |
| Other | 5 | 7% |
| Unknown | 31 | 41% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 64 | 84% |
| Scientists | 9 | 12% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 3% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 211 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Russia | 2 | <1% |
| Brazil | 2 | <1% |
| Portugal | 1 | <1% |
| France | 1 | <1% |
| Lithuania | 1 | <1% |
| Poland | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 203 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 40 | 19% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 34 | 16% |
| Student > Master | 30 | 14% |
| Researcher | 11 | 5% |
| Professor > Associate Professor | 11 | 5% |
| Other | 41 | 19% |
| Unknown | 44 | 21% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 86 | 41% |
| Neuroscience | 15 | 7% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 11 | 5% |
| Social Sciences | 7 | 3% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 6 | 3% |
| Other | 32 | 15% |
| Unknown | 54 | 26% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 329. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 16 March 2024.
All research outputs
#103,351
of 25,754,670 outputs
Outputs from Memory & Cognition
#4
of 1,667 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#442
of 192,514 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Memory & Cognition
#1
of 25 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,754,670 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,667 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.4. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 25 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.