In 2005, psychologist Shane Frederick created the shortest test to assess intellect. There are only 3 questions that you need to answer as quickly as possible. You can check the answers yourself!
We invite you to take the test and check your cognitive skills right away. Think for a moment, write down your answers and compare them with the correct ones.
Questions
1. A tennis racket and a ball cost 1 dollar and 10 cents together. The tennis racket is $ 1 more expensive than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
2. 5 machines produce 5 details in 5 minutes. How many minutes will it take 100 machines to produce 100 details?
3. There are water lilies growing in a pond. They grow very fast, doubling the area of distribution every day. It will take 48 days to fully cover the tank. How many days do the water lilies need to cover half the pond?
Shane Frederick is a professor at the Yale School of Management. He specializes in research on how people make decisions and choices. He even worked alongside Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman. Along with his team, Frederick interviewed about 1,000 people, who were partly students at major American universities.
In addition to evaluating these people for their cognitive abilities, the scientists also asked them about one more thing. Respondents received $ 3,400 now or $ 3,800 a month.
In the end, most of the people who scored poorly on the test were unwilling to wait, preferring to get a lower amount instantly. On the other hand, people with high test scores demonstrated great willpower that helped them earn better salaries.
The idea of the quiz is that the wrong answers come to mind first: 100 cents, 100 minutes, 24 days. These answers are more often given by people with an intuitive mindset, while those with a more rational type of thinking give better answers, on average.
Answers
The answer is 5 cents. If the ball cost 10 cents, the racket would cost 1 dollar and 10 cents, whereas that is what the two items cost together.
The answer is 5 minutes. The number of machines does not influence the amount of time required to produce detail.
The answer is 47 days, not 24. If the number of water lilies doubles every day and the number of days it takes to cover the entire pond is 48, it stands to reason that the lilies will cover half of the pond one day before it.
Were you able to answer these questions correctly the first time? Share your results with us in the comments!
Preview photo credit Gifted / FilmNation Entertainment
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