[I regularly use a "logic" test when I interview applicants for open positions on my team at work. This test is intended to draw out how the applicants approach sequential problems. I think I will replace my current test with this one.]
The following short quiz consists of 4 questions and will tell you whether you are qualified to be a “professional.”
1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?
The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. (This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.)
2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?
Did you say, “Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator”? (Wrong Answer)
Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.
3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?
Correct Answer: The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory.
OK, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.
4. There is a river you must cross but it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?
Correct Answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.
Let’s replace the GRE and GMAT with this too. Maybe we’ll get some truly smart PhD students.
There is one fault in the questioning. There is nothing in the questions themselves that indicate the situations are related. So, in isolation, question 2 has the same answer as question 1 – unless you make a connection between the two, such as through the use of “Then, how do you…” or “in that refrigerator” or “in your refrigerator”.
Now, I may be making things too complicated, but a simple, literal reading of the questions leads away from the answers you are looking for.
That being said, I might use a form of these questions in some of my own interviewing.