I found a sample test online that is apparently used to test people's problem-solving ability, called the "Wunderlic Test." Apparently the NFL has long used this test to check people's abilities. The sample, at this web page,
seems to have a serious error in logic. Their preferred answer for problem #2 is not correct. Here's the problem:
2. Assume the first two statements are true.
The boy plays football. All football players wear helmets. The boy wears a helmet.
Is the final statement:
True?
False?
Not Certain
The correct answer (which they reject) is "Not Certain." The question SHOULD have been (to get their desired answer):
Assume the first three statements are true: The boy plays football. Anyone who plays football is a football player. All football players ALWAYS wear helmets. The boy wears a helmet.
I can't tell you - but maybe you already know - how frustrating it is to be tested on careful reasonaing ability by a test based on fuzzy reasoning.
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4 comments:
You're assuming that the third statement means/implies "The boy ALWAYS wears a helmet". However, it simply states that "The boy wears a helmet", meaning at-some-point-or-another. Sorry to say, the Wunderlic is correct.
I'm sorry. I misconstrued your emphasis on ALWAYS to the turning point of your argument. Is your claim based on the condition of "ALWAYS" or that "Boy plays football" implies "Boy is a football player"?
I don't see how either is fuzzy.
Brian,
The problem is that a "football player" is not necessarily anyone who plays football. I played football once. Nobody would call me a "football player."
My suggested restatement of the problem would remove this ambiguity. The test-writers assumed -- but did not make it clar or necessary -- that anyone who has ever played football is a "football player."
- PB
The average football player isn't going to be quite this anal-retentive either, egads!
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