Guys, here is a pop quiz. Please note that this not to pull anybody's leg. All the questions have to be answered (even the last one). No strict rules but would prefer no googling (especially for the last one). However note that an answer is required for every question for your entry to count. No stakes involved and this is just for fun. The last one is real hard, but try.
1) 2+2 equals
a) 3
b) 6
c) 4
d) 5
2) The Capital of India is
a) London
b) Paris
c) New Delhi
d) Islamabad
3) Paris Hilton recently went to
a) India
b) Japan
c) Jail in California
d) Alaska
4) Sachin Tendulkar is a
a) Tennis player
b) Basketball player
c) Cricket player
d) Football player
5) Srishtrath Norquon Siho Rewa is
a) an ancient Mayan structure
b) an Inca god
c) a Buddhist temple
d) an infamous vietcong member
Monday, June 04, 2007
A simple pop quiz
Posted by Mad Max at 9:24 PM
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44 comments:
1) 2+2 equals 4 (c)
2) The Capital of India is New Delhi (c)
3) Paris Hilton recently went to Jail in California (c)
4) Sachin Tendulkar is a Cricket Player (c)
5) Srishtrath Norquon Siho Rewa is a Buddhist Temple (c) [ No idea... since all other answers were (c), I just chose it...]
1. C
2. C
3. C
4. C
5. C
And, no, I didn't google anything. For the last one, its a guess and it sounds like a buddhist temple.
Answers:
4
New Delhi
Jail in california
an ancient Mayan structure
@ Mindframes, Survivor and Brainwaves: thanks for taking the quiz and the answers. Brainwaves can you give me some indication as to why you chose the ancient Mayan structure? Mindframes and Survivor have given their reasoning for the choice.
On reading the word/name out loud it did not feel like Buddist name or Viet cong (based on past names read I guess) So it is inky pinky ponky between Inca & Mayan. I have no clue about Inca so prefered Mayan (sound like Tamil word :) )
all 'C' except last one 'd' (no reason)
(I selected this before reading the comments or googling)
btw, whats the answer. I googled after selecting, didnt help either.
Is 4 a trick question? Is it to prove that we choose one of them instead of assuming that the question itself might be wrong in the first place? We probably choose the answer based on our prior association or determine through some blind reasoning? Is the real answer "none of the above"..:)
@ Mindframes: hehehe..interestng thought...but should we wait for others to post their answers as well?
@mad-max: I think this is as good as it is going to get, in terms of responses...:)
Okie here goes. The first four questions needs no clarification. The fifth needs a ton of clarification! OK for the record, the fifth question is just basically nothing. There probably exists nothing to match that (which is why googling produces no result). The idea behind the fifth is in line with Mindframe's intuition.
The key is everybody has to take a guess on the fifth question. How we guess can provide significant information on how our thought process works. I was looking for two approaches. The choice is motivated either through updating priors based on the previous questions or context specificity.
For instance in the case of Mindframes, the answer was "..since all the other answers were (c) this might also be c...". That tells me that inherently (maybe not intentional) but he updated his priors on what the likely answer would be (therefore conditioning his choice of the answer for five on the previous choices). Therefore his behavior is characterized more by statistical reasoning (Bayesian updating of probabilities).
In Survivor's case, my presumption is the fact that all the others were C did not influence her choice (since it is not explicitly mentioned in her comment but I might be wrong). For brainwaves and sdpal, I think there is no ambiguity. It was context specificity that led to their respective choice.
I'm no psychologist, but from my rudimentary understanding, bulk of the people process information using context specificity. I was discussing this with a couple of my friends who are working on behavioral theory. I disagreed with them! My intuition was most people will update their priors when faced with a random lottery (as in this case, since there is no subjective information to guide our choices). Essentially, my mind forced the answer to be linked to the prior choices in the same test. On the other side, the story is people do not take into consideration cross linkages unless it is explicitly mentioned. Essentially, when faced with a random lottery people make choices independent of prior choices. For instance since there was no visible signs of connections between the questions, everybody would choose answers based on context specificity.
well looks like I got it wrong! (lol)
PS: I probably should have given more information, but the thing is, I needed answers where your reaction did not depend on additional information that I have provided. It would be interesting to actually use this approach to design real tests. Can we think of a system to minimize correct guessing?
interesting... infact, I would have chosen one of the answers based on context specificity if I had limited time. Since I didnt have the time pressure and there were only fewer earlier questions, I tried to see if there was a pattern instead of doing a simple guess (assuming that a pop-quiz from mad-max might have something more than what everyone would think...:))...
@ Mindframes: Interesting but would i t not be the other way around? If one has more time, then context specificity would definitely be a strong option. Well but I think the argument really holds both ways!
PS: the idea was not devious i hope. As I said earlier, I would have liked to give more information but then I dont know if it would have helped at all. Sorry if it hurt anybody's feelings. That was never the intention.
MadMax@
Feelings were hurt and you can't take that back. There is a tamil (movie) saying..Arisi-yai kotina thirpi yedukalam, Blog-ile kotina response than yeduka mudiyum..
Sdpal called me and said he was upset that you thought his thinking was same as other people (esp. like mine)..
@ Brainwaves: omigoshhh....u guys serious...oops big mistake...manichukongoooo...no more pop quizzes here...SDpal sorry for that...inda blog ee delete pannidlam if that makes everybody feel better...what say?? (admin where r u????)
BTW: i'm in town next week folkss
come on mad-max, sriks & sdpal must be joking...I guess...;)....
@ mad-max,
Take it easy pal!! It is not that easy to offend any of us . Kandippa indha bloga..we should keep, especially with your last comment..ha ha ha..ROFL :-)
@ Brainwaves,
Pavaam da payyan..
Since mad-max is going to be in town... we could give him the good ol' blanket treatment with an accompaniement of hockey sticks.... *gleefully rubs palms*
Madmax,
Did you get my mail? What is your mail id or phone number..?
@ survivor: actually i did not get ur mail..but got meera's reply to that...i have emailed all of you with my contact number and details..do let me know what works best...
Madmax@
I was just joking pal! I thought it was obvious so I did not put a smiley sign there.
FYI: even Sdpal calling me was from my imagniation too.
@ madmax: Apology accepted..but
FYI, at one point, I was so hurt, I turned to booze and wrecking my life.. but thanks to mano, he consoled and talked me out of it (by giving me company boozing!)
@sdpal: moodiya mondhu pathuttu indha aattam podiriya nee..:)
@mindframes:
Dont tell internal secrets in public forum, dude!
@Sdpal: well the moment mindframes put that down, it ceased to be an internal secret...hehehehe...
@sdpal: I think u are dreaming dude. I don't booze... i may sip, i may drink ... but i don't booze :)
Thats my story and i'm sticking to it.
@ Mano: wow that was a cool line...
"I may sip, I may drink..but I never booze" Mano said (trying to rhyme in with nuf said)...hehehe
Adi- seriyaana post-a irukku idhu! Guess I am too late to respond to the pop quiz questions!
@ Meera: thats okie...better late than never...okie folks i need 10 more to beat Mano...lets do it...Mano ,why dont you help me here to beat your record for comments received...heheheh
sabash.....seriyaana potti!
Now, madmax....all you have to do is follow Manu's modus operandi and post a 'thanks'
Oh...and forgot, you can also add some comments and delete them to make them count ;)
@ Saumya: wow..what a wonderful idea...right now Mano is too busy to be scheming against me to prevent the record from being broken...but others please feel free to add your stuff here...how about a "post one comment and get two comments free"...is that incentive enough....hmm mebbe i should delete this and type the same thing all over again...still counts as two right!
I am with you on this mad-max... Keep forging ahead...:)
way...
to..
@ Mindframes: thanks buddy
@ Brainwaves: nice...nicee....really nice....
now i actually counted the number of times Mano commented to reach his 40 and it was 14 (assuming i counted correctly). Well with this comment, I'm still on eleven and that makes it 38..so two more to level and 3 more to beat
Mad-max,
Teamwork is the key and we are here to help you. :-)
As I said to Mano yesterday, we don't care who wins, this is a win for our whole team....we just want Mano to lose...he he he( devilish ha ha ...)
Hey !! I have a question. How many comments do we actually need to beat Mano? Any answers...
Oh !! I actually checked it just now. I think we had to get more than 40 ...Way to go !! Congratulations mad-max.
@ Survivor: yippieeeeeeeeeeeeeee....i beat Mano to it...BTW I have less comments than Mano (in response terms)...therefore there should be no argument as the winner...hehehe
Mano where rr uuuuuuuuuuuuuu??????
@everyone: quantity is not equal to quality.
*grin*
ps: damn- this comment helps madmax
@ Mano: grrrrrr....what a statement...quality is subjective...heheheheeh
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