Psychology: These simple questions are meant to show how intelligent you are

There are various very complex methods for determining a person's intelligence – for example, tests that calculate IQ, or intelligence quotient. However, the whole process is supposed to be much simpler with a very short quiz developed by Yale professor Shane Frederick. According to the "Cognitive Reflection Test," just three questions are supposed to define how smart a person is. Can you answer the questions correctly on the first try?

Yale professor develops intelligence test with 3 questions: "Cognitive Reflection Test"

1. A bat and a ball cost $1.10 together. The bat costs one dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
2. If five machines take five minutes to produce five products, how long will it take 100 machines to produce 100 products?
3. Water lilies grow in a lake. Every day, the number of water lilies doubles. The water lilies take 48 days to cover the entire lake. How long would it take for the water lilies to cover half of the lake?

It seems like the answers to these questions are obvious. Many people quickly think of these solutions: ten cents, 100 minutes, and 24 days. In fact, the answers are wrong; the correct solutions are: five cents, five minutes, and 47 days.

How do you find the correct solutions?

1. If the bat cost one dollar and the ball ten cents, the price difference between them would be only 90 cents—but it's supposed to be one dollar. Therefore, to meet this requirement, the bat can only cost $1.05 and the ball five cents.
2. If five machines take five minutes to produce five products, one machine takes five minutes to produce one product. Therefore, 100 machines will also take five minutes to produce 100 products.
3. If the number of water lilies doubles every day and the entire lake is covered on day 48, the lake must be half covered one day before the 48th day. Because on day 48 the number doubles again—therefore the correct answer is 47 days.

Professor Shane Frederick originally developed these questions as a psychological test. Several thousand participants participated in 35 different studies. Only 17 percent of participants answered all three questions correctly, and 33 percent gave the wrong answer to all questions. According to Shane Frederick, the group of people who quickly gave the seemingly obvious but ultimately incorrect answers tended to act on gut feeling. According to the professor, those who come up with the correct answers tended to act more thoughtfully.

Over time, however, the professor discovered that people with higher IQs were more likely to answer the questions correctly than those with lower ones. Ultimately, answering the questions correctly requires the cognitive ability to understand them properly and arrive at the correct answer through logical thinking. For those who are more thoughtful but lack these analytical skills, intensive reflection on the problem won't help them either.

Which brings us to the next problem with the test: The mathematical-logical component is only one part of intelligence. There are many other types of intelligence, such as linguistic, spatial, emotional, or musical intelligence. So, someone who doesn't excel at analytical tasks like these three questions isn't automatically stupid—their intelligence probably just lies elsewhere.

mbl Brigitte

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