Thread: Fluid Thinking

  1. #1
    Lead Moderator kermi3's Avatar
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    Fluid Thinking

    I'm am about to present the definition of fluid thinking, followed by 2 simple exercises that are used to test fluid thinking. Fluid thinking supposedly peaks when people are in their late teens and 20s, and declines throughout adulthood.

    If you want more of a challenge skip the following definition, though I don't think it will help much:

    Definition 1: Fluid intelligence is flexible reasoning used to draw inferenceces and understand relations between concepts. It is made up of those basic mental abilities - inductive reasoning, abstract thinking, analysis. and the like - that are required for processing new ideas or facts about any subjecy.

    Definition 2: Fluid intelligence: Those types of basic intelligence that make learning of all sorts quick and thorough. Underling abilities suck as short-term memory, abstract thought, and speed of thinking are usually considered part of fluid intellegence.
    My friend (much older), who gave these to me could not get either one, which kinda makes sense since fluid thinking is supposed to peak in late teens or 20s. I got the first one rather quickly, though the second is much much harder I thought. You are supposed to get these within 2 min for testing, but I couldn't get the second one at all, infact it took me 1/2 an hour, after I knew what the right answer was from a key, to simply justify/prove the correct answer to the second one.

    I won't say more about my solution for it, but i figure if any group of people would be the best fluid thinkers it would be programmers. Please say how you got the answer, especially on 2! heh I want to know if I pulled the answer outta thin air or if my method is right . (I do have the correct answers from key)

    Good luck and don't spend too much time on this....Also you might not want to read the posts below this cause I'm sure people will get the answers and post them (duh!)



    Problem 1:
    Complete the next letter in the sequence:

    B D A C Z B Y A ?

    Problem 2 (hard one):
    Complete the next number in the sequence:

    4 5 6 3 4 5 2 3 4 5 6 ?

    Answeres given away below!
    Kermi3

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  2. #2
    Hidoi Ryuujin
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    is #1 "x"?

    and is #2 "7"
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  3. #3
    Lead Moderator kermi3's Avatar
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    You're right on 1.....

    2 is wrong.
    Kermi3

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  4. #4
    Hidoi Ryuujin
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    It had better not be three. (stupid obvious repeating pattern if so)
    One death is a tragedy, one million... a statistic.
    -Josef Stalin

    In case I forget, I use Bloodshed Dev C++ v.4

  5. #5
    Lead Moderator kermi3's Avatar
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    nope, feel free to put up your "algoritum" hehe.
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  6. #6
    Code Monkey Davros's Avatar
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    Why is 7 wrong?
    Last edited by Davros; 11-20-2002 at 10:55 AM.

  7. #7
    Hidoi Ryuujin
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    well, it starts out incrementing by 1 twice and then subtracting three. Then it breaks that pattern. Then I tried the obvious "just repeat the other #s trick".

    4?

    I'll have to check this again tomorrow: class is about over.
    Last edited by deathstryke; 11-20-2002 at 10:59 AM.
    One death is a tragedy, one million... a statistic.
    -Josef Stalin

    In case I forget, I use Bloodshed Dev C++ v.4

  8. #8
    Code Monkey Davros's Avatar
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    Well if I can't have 7, let's see...

    4 5|6 3 4|5 2 3|4 5 6 ?

    I go for 3 also. Apart from repeating, look at the first digit after the | symbol. They go:

    6 5 4 ?

    Therefore, the next is three. Also look at the middle numbers, they go

    4 3 2 5

    Also the last numbers

    5 4 3 6

    So the first set roll around at 3 to 6, the middle roll at 2 to 5, and the last roll at 3 to 6.

    So it goes like

    4 5|6 3 4|5 2 3|4 5 6| -> 345|634|523|456...

    Edit. And I've just noticed it repeats.
    Last edited by Davros; 11-20-2002 at 11:11 AM.
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  9. #9
    pronounced 'fib' FillYourBrain's Avatar
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    my guesses were the same as deathstryke. I don't see how it could be "wrong" anyway considering you're only looking for a pattern and we found one.
    "You are stupid! You are stupid! Oh, and don't forget, you are STUPID!" - Dexter

  10. #10
    Black Mage Extraordinaire VegasSte's Avatar
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    I got number 1 easy enough, that is X!

    Number 2............now that is a harder one, but I am also going to go with 3, simply because I am guessing that the pattern is a repeating pattern, and that 456 is where the loop starts again, and after that comes 3 !!!!

  11. #11
    pronounced 'fib' FillYourBrain's Avatar
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    I found another reason for number 2 to be 7

    it deals with pairs adding up to 9

    in each half, you have an inside out pairing
    Code:
    4 5 6 3 4 5      2 3 4 5 6 ?
    
    4             5      2             ?
      5        4            3       6
         6  3                  4  5
    each pairing adds up to 9 so logically the question mark should be 7
    "You are stupid! You are stupid! Oh, and don't forget, you are STUPID!" - Dexter

  12. #12
    Code Monkey Davros's Avatar
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    If this is fluid thinking, then the answer is there could be lots of answers. If there is a definate pattern and we determine that pattern dictates the next number is 7, then 7 is a correct answer.

    Can't figure the word one though. Why is the answer X?

  13. #13
    Black Mage Extraordinaire VegasSte's Avatar
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    There is a repeating pattern!
    The first letter is B, the third one letter back in the alphabet( A ), the fifth another letter back ( Z ), seventh one more back ( Y ), so the ninth will be one more letter back, (ie. X)

    Last edited by VegasSte; 11-20-2002 at 12:02 PM.

  14. #14
    Lead Moderator kermi3's Avatar
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    Yup I tried all those things, the 9, the adding, the subrtract, the flat out pattern, got the same answeres as you all,

    It's wrong because that's not what they're looking for for fluid thinking I guess...we were thinking about writing the author, though we check 3 versions of the textbook and it's the same in them all.



    GIVING AWAY ANSWER TO #2:

    The answer is 1. lol now try and justify it.
    Kermi3

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  15. #15
    Black Mage Extraordinaire VegasSte's Avatar
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    Does it justify it in any of the books that contain the answer?

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