Monday, April 10, 2006

Don't Cheat. Part I.

Here's a quiz. Do not read the comment section of this posting until you have recorded your answers. Here are the instructions. You have exactly 90-seconds. You may use a pencil or pen and as much blank paper as you need. Answer the following three questions. That's all. Remember 90-seconds from the moment you read the first word of the first question below. Ready. GO!

1. A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

2. If it takes five machines five minutes to make five widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets?

3. In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half of the lake?

DONE!

Record your answers. Post them, unadulterated and uncensored, if you dare. Part II quiz questions tomorrow. Answers and explanations to be posted the following day. Let's see if our findings match the good professor's. (If you don't want to post but want to be part of this innovative and important verification of scientific findings, email me at aemascia@hotmail.com with your answers).

Quiz/study taken from:
Shane Frederick, PhD
Assistant Professor
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

12 Comments:

At 12:49 AM, Blogger Sarah said...

this quiz is like a little window into Anthony's person :)
The only thing he likes better than winning in general is winning a smartie contest. and the only thing he likes better than that is ORDER. ("don't cheat," he titles this...)
This is SO Ant. It's competitive... it has pretty rigid parameters... but it requires some finesse, rather than brute intellectual force. Voila. Ant in a nutshell.

my answers:
1. 5 cents (really thought that one out)
2. 100 (a guess!)
3. well, I didn't get to 3... I thought about 1 and 2 too long. but in another 45 seconds or so, I would have come up with 47.

 
At 1:08 AM, Blogger Mike said...

1. 5 cents
2. 5 minutes
3. 47 days

I had to mute South Park once I read the first question in order to finish in time. Ego currently on line, standing by.

I'm not sure what makes an answer "unadulterated."

 
At 8:09 AM, Blogger Bird said...

Not looking at anyone else's answers:

1. 5 cents
2. 5 minutes
3. 47 days

Okay-- now I get to publish and see how bad it was!

 
At 8:10 AM, Blogger Bird said...

ohmygosh, I just read Sarah's post-- *sp* true!!!

 
At 10:55 AM, Blogger Anthony said...

Rigid parameters? LOL. Do you mean rules?

I love this quiz (and its rules).

I love the bravery of posting answers. (Good news... you are all doing well, i.e. better than national average).

 
At 12:53 PM, Blogger Bird said...

... but probably not better than Anthony, which means it is REALLY good news for you!! ;)

 
At 12:59 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

5 cents. (what kind of crazy bat markup is that? That's like you get to buy a car for $10 but the tires cost $17,999.)

5 minutes. But I confess I think that question tripped me up somewhere before.

47 days.

It's interesting, how we develop heightened attention when these types of quizzes come around, b/c we've learned through many embarrassing "scroll down... way down... keep going!!" moments that the whole exercise is primarily designed to make one feel a little dense.

Bring it on, Anthony. Stump us.

 
At 2:23 PM, Blogger vp said...

ok...so clearly those of us that are humanities professors have absolutely NO MATH SKILLS.

Fine make fun of me...but I'm going to be honest.

1. 5
2. 100
3. 12 (I have NO idea what my line of reasoning was there)

 
At 3:01 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Innovative and important scientific findings? This looks like a sociologic experiment! I thought you said that this kind of "research" was not really research - more like voodoo- or pseudo-science.

Anyways, here are my answers:
1. 5 cents
2. 5 minutes
3. 47 days

 
At 3:14 PM, Blogger Pete said...

1. The ball costs $0.05
2. It takes 5 minutes
3. 47 days for half

 
At 3:17 PM, Blogger Pete said...

Bollucks! How did I get the same answers as Bird? I am screwed!!!

 
At 4:55 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ok, I couldn't resist. I'm pretty sure on the 1st and 3rd one, but not so sure on the 2nd. Anyways:

1) 5 cents
2) 5 minutes?
3) 47 days

 

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