The world’s shortest IQ test not only reveals your intelligence but also your level of patience.
The test, called the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT), consists of three math-based questions that target a person’s ability to ignore their initial instinctive response in favor of a more rational thought process.
Many are quick to assume the answers are simple, but the Yale University professor who created the test warned that it’s not as straightforward as it may seem.
Professor Shane Frederick created the CRT in 2005 and only 20 to 40 percent of students who have attempted it have passed.
A Yale University professor designed a Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) consisting of three math-based questions that target a person’s ability to ignore their initial instinctive response in favor of a more rational thought process.
Math puzzles are useful in helping people develop logical thinking by promoting brain stimulation and developing visual and spatial reasoning skills.
A CRT measures a person’s cognitive ability by assessing whether he or she can suppress spontaneous responses that ultimately turn out to be erroneous and replace them with thoughtful, deliberate responses.
The first question is: ‘A bat and a ball cost $1.10 total. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?’
Frederick said 10 cents would be the obvious choice, but that’s a mistake.
The reason? The difference between $1 and 10 cents is 90 cents, while the difference between $1.05 and 5 cents is one dollar, which satisfies the parameters of the question.
The professor conducted a study with 3,428 people who were asked to complete his short IQ test.
He found that those who answered 10 cents were significantly less patient than those who answered correctly. IFLS Science reported.
The second question is: “If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets?”
If you answered 100 minutes, you are wrong again: the answer is five minutes.
The most obvious conclusion is to continue the pattern that it would take 100 machines and 100 minutes to make 100 widgets.
However, if each machine takes five minutes, even if we scale it up to 100 machines, each one will only take five minutes.
The third question is: ‘In a lake there is a patch of water lilies. Every day the patch doubles in size.
‘If it takes 48 days for the slick to cover the entire lake, how long would it take to cover half the lake?’
Of the more than 3,000 people who took the test, most gave the wrong answer of 24 days, which at first glance makes sense because people’s instinct is to halve the number of days.
Frederick said the answer is 47 because if the area doubles every day and reaches the full size of the pond, that means it was half the size a day before.
Although the test is designed to determine your IQ, if you got all or most of the questions wrong, you shouldn’t feel inadequate, because students tested at some of the most prestigious schools in the country did poorly.
Only 20 percent of Harvard students answered all questions correctly, while 26 percent of Princeton students and 48 percent of MIT students got all three questions correct.