IQ: Continue the series: 1,2,3, ..

[Ghost of the dead horse]

Continue the number series: 1, 2, 3, ..

No, don't answer the question, check in the poll which of the statements apply to you.

It's multiple choice!

 

[Matthew_Z]

I'd like to point out that the sequence could have been a portion of the Fibonacci Numbers, thus making the solution "5." Omitting 0 and 1 because they are not the sum of numbers before them, the sequence (0,1,) 1,2,3,5, (.. 8,13,21...) is reasonable.

Fibonacci number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

yes

 

[Matthew_Z]

The sequence could also have been listing the natural numbers with no more than two positive integers as factors. This would also result in the next number in the sequence being 5.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

Noticing that several interpretations are feasible, how would you go about finding the winner and why?

 

[Matthew_Z]

Noticing that several interpretations are feasible, how would you go about finding the winner and why?

There isn't even data given to narrow the answer to a single possible solution. Judging the "winner" at this point would be largely arbitrary.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

There isn't even data given to narrow the answer to a single possible solution. Judging the "winner" at this point would be largely arbitrary.

Data is the world we living, your personal experience, the test situation and what we make of it.

 

[FDG]

I'd like to point out that the sequence could have been a portion of the Fibonacci Numbers, thus making the solution "5." Omitting 0 and 1 because they are not the sum of numbers before them, the sequence (0,1,) 1,2,3,5, (.. 8,13,21...) is reasonable.

Fibonacci number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That was my first thought, aswell.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

I was thinking that polynomial of degree n can be made to have selected values at n+1 distinct points.

 

[Athenian200]

I just answered 4. I also agreed with "It's logically an arithmetic progression of f = an, with the constant a=1," which explains why it's 4.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

So why did an arithmetic progression seem like a more probable candidate than fibonacci numbers, or let alone, (gasp) whatever 10th-degree polynomial that just happens to have f(1) = 1, f(2)=2 and f(3)=3 ?

 

[Wonkavision]

How about this sequence:

Nerd, Fucking Nerd, Holy SHIT what a Nerd, Matthew Z, .........


Naw---I'm just bullshittin ya.

I love the nerds.

Really, I do.

 

[King sns]

I was thinkin' more along the lines of..

1+2=3, 2+3=5, 3+5=8

So it could be 1,2,3,4,5
or....
1,2,3,5,8....

But assuming there's no "five" in the multiple choices, then... sure. 4 it is...
And if there is options for 4 and 5 then the test maker is just being rude, and 4 would probably still be the answer.

(damn me with the not reading threads ahead of time!!)

 

[Athenian200]

So why did an arithmetic progression seem like a more probable candidate than fibonacci numbers, or let alone, (gasp) whatever 10th-degree polynomial that just happens to have f(1) = 1, f(2)=2 and f(3)=3 ?

In my case?

1. Because I suck at math and don't know anything about those numbers.

2. Counting sequences are the most common sequences those numbers are used in. If another sequence is being indicated, there are usually qualifiers to help you interpret it that way.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

Lol. But really, that "numbers can be anything they want to be" and "everybody's right" crap cripples, not empowers people.

Warning: not being able to complete the sequence exposes you to schizophrenia, low income, lower work performance*, violent behavior and supporting multiple intelligences theory

p.s. yes, going by Athenian200's explanation, those numbers are most often encountered in the situation in question, and repeating it in an IQ test (if a person is capable of that - not easy) - is what gives people high scores. As high as genius scores.

The tests really have many options that are "possible", others with a twisted logic, others with unusual logic, others with unproductive logic, etc. Now it is *THERE* that the intelligence is measured; who finds the most productive logic, most logical logic, etc. One has to decide themselves the logic they use to choose the logic, and think how far they would get with it. The correct answer in good tests (most of them) is almost always the logic that gets one farthest.

*Hunter, J. E. and Hunter, R. F. (1984). Validity and utility of alternative predictors of job performance. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 72–98.

 

[Saslou]

We can't really know what kind of logic there is in creating those numbers.
That was my choice anyway. I think i choose that one (sorry, bad headache and was distracted)

I have just realised i didn't read it properly. I thought it was to do with those questions you posted about jobs.

OK, low income and violence for me.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

My main point of interest is in here. Somebody teaches you a new skill in job, she puts utensils to dinner table 1, dinner table 2, dinner table 3, and says.. continue just like that, in the order I showed. People would then go to table 4.

But phrase it as an intelligence question, then people start saying, we don't know on the theory of this and that, etc..

What became so difficult in connecting the dots while we removed the concrete application and made it more abstract?

 

[Matthew_Z]

What became so difficult in connecting the dots while we removed the concrete application and made it more abstract?

The main difference is context. Numbers are, strictly speaking, an abstract concept.

In the example you gave, the numbers were used to differentiate between tables. (with a slight implication of order) The tables could have just as easily been named Table Alpha, Table Beta, and Table Gamma. In this instance, the natural numbers certainly are implied.

You will note that my first example, the Fibonacci numbers, takes a different turn. These numbers increase in quantity. In that sequence, "2" would correspond to "2 tables," not "table 2" if we were to make a more direct application of the distinctly abstract sequence.

To conclude, the sequence has different interpretations given varying contexts. By assigning this context, you, in essence, change the sequence itself, even if the numbers themselves remain constant.

 

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Continue the number series: 1, 2, 3, ..

No, don't answer the question, check in the poll which of the statements apply to you.

It's multiple choice!

My first thought when seeing a question like this is "the test makers want me to choose the answer 4." I don't see 4 as the only possible answer. It's simply the answer that they want me to choose.

Aside: My first thought for alternative answers is a sequence of non-composite numbers 1,2,3,5,7,11,13,.... My second thought for alternative answers is that there are an infinite number of polynomials which can be created fitting to that sequence, and there is at least one polynomial in each degree greater than or equal to one.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

Has the world changed? If the Big Brother in Orwell's 1984 told that 1,2,3 continues with 5 whereas people thought of 4, today it's the opposite?