Please help me finding those publication:
I came across a paper on incubation (“thinking aside”) in problem solving by Robert Olton: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2162-6057.1979.tb00185.x/abstract
Olton spent many years at the University of California, Berkeley, trying to prove that incubation exists. In one study, he used experts trying to solve a problem in their area of expertise – chess players and a chess problem. Olton’s study marked a turning point in the study of incubation. His study was cited in many books (just recently in Kevin Ashton’s How to Fly a Horse) and in over 100 scientific publications. The only catch: the original study (with the data) he was referring to in his review-paper actually may have never been published ! Olton cites his own study as “OLTON, R M. Incubation in problem solving: the pause that refreshes? Manuscript submitted for publication, 1979”. Yet, there is no trace of this paper anywhere. It seems that his manuscript may have not passed the referees judgment – and was rejected for publication. Could it be that a whole branch of psychology research is based on a study that actually doesn’t exist? Does anybody have more information on this “lost” study?
There exists one cover page for this ‘paper’ in this library: http://digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu/portal/main.jsp?flag=browse&smd=1&awdid=1 But I cannot find the paper. All later publications that cite this this paper are merely referencing only this 1979 JCB review, which does not contain any original data. The real research data must be in the paper that Olton cites in his JCB review. However, I cannot find any proof that this data was published at all (maybe with a different title?). No hits for: “Incubation in problem solving: the pause that refreshes?”
If you have a copy of one of those publications, I would be happy if you could send it to me, preferable as PDF. This would be very helpful. I’m also missing many non-English, non-German research papers. I’m sure there are quite a few in Russian (and some in Spanish). If you can, please send them to me as well.
Thank you!
Axel