The Times: Want to be a success? Fail 15% of the time

Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. But try to succeed 85 per cent of the time.

Scientists have discovered that there is a perfect amount of failure, suggesting that those who get the answers wrong 15 per cent of the time while studying have found the optimum difficulty level to stimulate fast learning.

Researchers said that a success rate of 85 per cent, or getting about six of every seven questions or challenges right, was the “sweet spot” for fast learning, explaining that anything above this is too easy and anything below is too difficult.

The findings could be used to train medics, for example by helping radiologists to spot brain tumours in scans, the scientists said.

The study’s author told The Times that the most obvious application for the findings will be in “perceptual learning tasks” where people have to differentiate between categories in which there is a clear correct or incorrect answer. But the study suggests that the theory could also apply more broadly for those learning a new language or a musical instrument, helping them to find a “Goldilocks zone” where their lessons are “not so hard that we are discouraged, but not so easy that we get bored”.

The full online article can be found here.