Try these (I think I got them right, I'll post my answers after other people have had a go as well):
• A bat and a ball cost £1.10 in total. The bat costs £1 more than the ball. How many pence does the ball cost?
• If it takes five machines, five minutes to make five widgets, how many minutes would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets?
• 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 many days would it take for the patch to cover half the lake?
SUCCESS at job interviews could soon come down to three questions. Scientists have devised the questions, including one about the cost of a bat and ball, as a new way of establishing the intelligence of candidates without the need for lengthy IQ tests.
Named the cognitive reflection test (CRT), it is also said to be a good indicator of how patient candidates are and how good they are at making decisions.
The test has been designed by Professor Shane Frederick of the MIT Sloan School of Management in America, who claims the questions are easy, in that their solution is easily understood when explained.
To arrive at the right answer candidates need to suppress the first response that springs 'impulsively' to the mind and instead work it out logically.
But of the 3,000 students Professor Frederick tested, fewer than half gave the correct answer to the first question about the relative cost of the bat and a ball.
When told that they cost a total of £1.10, and the bat costs £1 more than the ball they were asked to work out the cost of the ball. Most said 10p - which is wrong.
Of the study group, men were found to be more successful because they were more reflective in their answers than women, who were more inclined to go with their intuition.
Professor Frederick claims the CRT could soon replace more conventional IQ tests as well as personality tests beloved of employers. He said: 'Do you want someone running your company who doesn't think beyond their first impulse, or do you want someone who is willing to ask, 'Does this response really make any sense?''
Professor Frederick claims that those who do well on the CRT tend to be more patient when weighing up the options of 'small rewards now, or greater rewards later', which can be a useful management skill.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/small-business/article.html?in_article_id=402282&in_page_id=10