A Psychologist Created a 3-Question Test That Can Show Your Intellect Level Within a Minute

Saleeha Som
ILLUMINATION
Published in
2 min readOct 8, 2022
Photo by cottonbro:

Shane Frederick, a psychologist, developed the quickest test for measuring intelligence in 2005. There are only 3 questions, and you must respond as rapidly as you can. Even you can verify the solutions!

Bright Side cordially encourages you to immediately take the exam and assess your cognitive talents. Consider your options, record your responses, and contrast 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 dollar more expensive than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

2. 5 machines produce 5 details within 5 minutes. How many minutes will it take for 100 machines to produce 100 details?

3. There are water lilies growing in a pond. They grow quite fast doubling the distribution area each day. It will take them 48 days to cover the pond fully. How many days do water lilies need to cover half of the pond?

Professor Shane Frederick works for the Yale School of Management. His area of expertise is the study of human decision-making. He has even collaborated with Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winner. Frederick and his team conducted a survey of about 1,000 persons, some of whom were huge American university students.

The scientists tested these subjects’ cognitive skills in addition to asking them about something else. The offer made to the interviewees was $3,400 now or $3,800 in a month. As it turned out, the majority of test takers with poor scores refused to wait and instead decided to receive a smaller sum right away. On the other hand, those who performed well on the test showed great willpower, which enabled them to receive a higher salary.

The test is designed so that the incorrect answers — 100 cents, 100 minutes, and 24 days — come to mind first. People with an intuitive perspective are more likely to provide these answers, whereas those with more reasoned mindsets typically provide superior answers.

Answers

1. The answer is 5 cents. If the ball cost 10 cents, the racket would cost 1 dollar and 10 cents while that’s how much both items cost together.

2. The answer is 5 minutes. The number of machines doesn’t influence the amount of time needed for producing one detail.

3. The answer is 47 days, not 24. If the amount of water lilies is doubling every day and the amount of days needed for covering the pond completely is 48, it’s logical that the lilies will cover half of the pond one day before it.

Did you successfully complete these questions the first time? Please share your results with us in the comments!

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