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The iq test in question - image 1

Available answers - image 2

I solved this IQ test questions and later found my answer was wrong. I selected F when the correct answer is B. I do understand how B can be an answer, but in my experience and understanding of iq tests, any pattern that you find should lead you to the correct answer, because there is only one correct answer. So there has to be either something flawed with my reasoning, or with the test(question) itself. Help me figure out which one it is.

Here is my reasoning:

In each row and column, same rule applies, there will be 1 black, 1 striped and 1 white object. Therefore, the correct answer will have the white object, which leaves A,B or F as the possible answers.

In each row and column, same rule applies, there will be 1 facing up, and 2 facing down. I repeat, this is true for every row and every column. Therefore, we are left with F as the only possible answer as it is the one facing DOWN.

Saegusa
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SHC MostWanted
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  • You tried considering it as a clockwise motion? It has to be B because after a left top corner is a right top corner. Note there's also a more specific symmetry: the opposite corner is the same direction. – Saegusa Oct 01 '21 at 20:32
  • Yes, you need to consider clockwise motion. – Zest Oct 01 '21 at 20:35
  • @Saegusa I did, and I see how that works to get answer B, but then the pattern I found should not exist. This is true for all IQ test questions, if you find 2 or more different patterns then both should lead you to the same answer because there is no such thing as 1 pattern being more "correct" than another one. So either my reasoning is flawed or the question is. – SHC MostWanted Oct 01 '21 at 20:36
  • Well, no. Here's another pattern. "All the figures look like umbrellas, therefore E is a valid answer". This is not how IQ tests work. Maybe you've only tried simple IQ tests? – Saegusa Oct 01 '21 at 20:38
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    In any such problem, you can construct rules for almost any option, mathematically. The heart of such questions is pattern recognition, not math. Pattern recognition is a tool used by mathematicians, but the questions aren’t mathematically solvable. – Thomas Andrews Oct 01 '21 at 20:42
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    If there weren’t a list of options, you wouldn’t know which down umbrella to choose, from your reasoning. The rule you’ve provided does not determine the diagram. It is true, using your guideline, that only one of the choices satisfies the guideline, but presumably the question wants you to find an answer determined only by the diagram, not the options. – Thomas Andrews Oct 01 '21 at 20:48
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    "any pattern that you find should lead you to the correct answer, because there is only one correct answer". It is actually the opposite, any "continue the sequence" problem has infinite correct answers. It's more like "find the pattern that who devised the question had in mind" – Manlio Oct 01 '21 at 21:00
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    Someone downvoted this. I know bc upvoted. Why would anyone ever downvote this. I get unreasonably irritated with downvotes LOL – Al Brown Oct 01 '21 at 22:15

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I did conclude B before checking possible answers (I only say that to motivate that the logic here is not constructed, ex post reasoning).

My thinking was that the only rotational pattern maintained seems to be: One clockwise tick as we go from top to bottom.

And the only shading pattern maintained seems to be: white -> lined -> black -> white -> lined etc. as we go from left to right.

Al Brown
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