Recommend some good IQ questions - Page 5

wacki · #41 06-29-2005, 10:21 PM

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FWIW, I think probability questions aren't good choices for this type of test. A lot of the time, they are so counter-intuitive while seemingly intuitive that a very intelligent person might just not think it through well enough. Case in point, Wacki.

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Thx for sticking up for me brassnuts.

In my defense I have been analyzing DNA nonstop for some time now. I've been creating complex position specific scoring matrices and many forms of genomic alignments. Much of what I do is sequential probability and I was stuck in that mode when reading partygirls post. Make sure your dad understands the reasoning behind all of the answers. Everything I've said in this thread is true, I just didn't read (or look) at the question right. Depending on your dads needs, I should either be fired, or even hired.

P.S. I hope this thread gets buried soon. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

MortalNuts · #42 06-29-2005, 10:24 PM

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I can't solve this problem and that really bothers me....

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A hint (in white): think about what happens if only one person has a dot on his forehead. How would you determine whether you are that person? Okay, now think about what happens if there are two people with dots. Now three, and so on. 

later,

mn

MortalNuts · #43 06-29-2005, 10:43 PM

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The problem with questions like these are that if the interviewee has heard of them, it doesn't mean he's smart. I could tell the answer to my dumb friend and then he would pass the interview test.

The only thing you can tell from this question is if someone is not a super-genius. If they don't know the answer, they aren't one of the top .1% smartest people on earth. I believe even very smart people (but not top .1%)who have never been exposed to questions like this may still get them wrong.

Because of this, these questions can't tell you much about the person.

Anyone agree? disagree?

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Well, yeah. To be perfectly honest I think most questions of this type generally aren't all that useful, even if you can guarantee the candidate has never heard them before, except for picking out the extremes in the distribution of candidates. That is, it's pretty easy to come up with a question that only a very bright person will be able to answer quickly, or to come up with a question that all but very dumb people should be able to answer. It's much, much tougher to come up with questions that can meaningfully differentiate between people in the middle of the scale. I think the question I quoted does better than most at this, but it's still not that great.

In practice, the situation is even worse, since (as you mentioned) some people may have heard the question before and others may not have. For this reason alone, I would never use a "stock" question like this as a way of interviewing someone. You at least have to change it so that the basic procedure is the same (e.g., in this problem, find the base case and generalize from it), but the details are different.

If you're looking to test someone's ability in a particular subject, it's possible to do a lot better, and actually write questions that (imho) differentiate between candidates much more finely.

later,

mn

jason_t · #44 06-29-2005, 10:47 PM

Answer in white:

CallMeIshmael (6:22:35 PM): http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...mp;o=&vc=1
CallMeIshmael (6:22:37 PM): have u seen that?
jason_t (6:22:47 PM): it's long
jason_t (6:22:49 PM): [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
CallMeIshmael (6:22:57 PM): the solutiuon is long?
jason_t (6:23:00 PM): the post
CallMeIshmael (6:23:03 PM): lol
jason_t (6:23:05 PM): i'm very lazy today
jason_t (6:23:08 PM): <--- woke up at 5 pm
CallMeIshmael (6:23:09 PM): its a logic problem
CallMeIshmael (6:23:13 PM): wow
CallMeIshmael (6:23:21 PM): i went to bed at like 4
CallMeIshmael (6:23:23 PM): 3
jason_t (6:23:42 PM): i went to be around 5:30 am, i got a phone call at 7 am and was on the phone until 8:30 am
jason_t (6:23:48 PM): then slept until 5 pm
CallMeIshmael (6:24:01 PM): wow
CallMeIshmael (6:24:03 PM): that is absurd
CallMeIshmael (6:24:38 PM): well
CallMeIshmael (6:24:41 PM): read it sometime
CallMeIshmael (6:24:45 PM): cause, i dont know teh answer
CallMeIshmael (6:24:49 PM): but, i have a guess
jason_t (6:24:55 PM): ok, i will later
CallMeIshmael (6:24:59 PM): [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
jason_t (6:27:07 PM): <--- read it, solved it
CallMeIshmael (6:27:15 PM): waht do u do?
jason_t (6:29:41 PM): well, let's just be silly about it
jason_t (6:29:46 PM): if there is only one dot
jason_t (6:30:02 PM): the person with the dot will realize the next time he sees the group he is the only one with a dot
CallMeIshmael (6:30:13 PM): and kill himself
jason_t (6:30:13 PM): becuase he won't see a dot on anyone else
jason_t (6:30:15 PM): right
jason_t (6:30:19 PM): say there are two dots
jason_t (6:31:13 PM): consider one of the guys who has a dot on his head
jason_t (6:31:53 PM): he'll see a dot on another guy
jason_t (6:31:59 PM): and think he's in the clear on the first night
jason_t (6:32:16 PM): all the people with no dots will see the two dots and think they are in the clear
jason_t (6:32:22 PM): the next night they'll see each other
jason_t (6:32:26 PM): and no one will be dead
jason_t (6:32:59 PM): now the guys with the dots on their heads will realize it must be because there are two dots in the group
jason_t (6:33:04 PM): and they each have it on their head
jason_t (6:33:08 PM): they'll kill themselves
jason_t (6:33:28 PM): similarly, for three dots, after two nights the three people will realize and kill themselves
jason_t (6:33:29 PM): etc.
jason_t (6:33:30 PM): done
CallMeIshmael (6:34:04 PM): sounds good [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
jason_t (6:34:09 PM): <--- supergenius
CallMeIshmael (6:34:15 PM): <--- knew that was coming
jason_t (6:34:24 PM): ^should have announced pre-event
jason_t (6:34:32 PM): post-event it's not interesting

Further comment in white:
For what's it worth, this is how to approach any problem of this type: try small n and see if the reasoning generalizes.

RacersEdge · #45 06-29-2005, 11:09 PM

lol, as usual with these things, I miss the premise..

as a hint to any others who made the same mistake as me, read the white:

 The decisions about who has the dots doesn't have to be made after just one dinner... [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]