Who is Kismet?

With the blessings of modern artificial intelligence, now it is possible to design robots that are able to interact with humans in a more meaningful way. The Cog Project conducted in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown a new dimension on this issue and Kismet is the outcome of many of the various projects dealing with artificial intelligence. Kismet is a robot who is able to make many social interactions with people. Kismet can show many facial expressions while it tries to interact with the audience. Kismet is designed with a motivational system that is similar to the human system. This system appears to be in a homeostasis condition when the robot is motivated to learn the behaviors which are able to meet the needs.

Now it is the time to know about the answers of the previous set.

1. c) 35; 2. d) 8:27; 3. a) 44; 4. b) 2998; 5. d) some gentlemen are invited to the party; 6. c) 36; 7. d) ; 8. d) 160; 9. a) birds; 10. d) laboratory.

Are you ready to face today's questions? Here we go.

Today's (29th October, 2008) Questions

1. Complete the series in Fig. logically.







2. Fill in the next number in the series

3, 12, 4, 9, 5, 6, 6, _____

a) 6
b) 8
c) 3
d) 4

3. How many triangles can be located this Fig.





a) 8
b) 9
c) 10
d) 12

4. Find the missing link in the following series

12, 21, 33, 13, 31, ______, 14, 41, 55, ______

a) 39
b) 35
c) 44
d) 43

5. My ________ friend is my friend.

a) friend’s
b) enemy’s
c) neighbor’s
d) brother’s

6. Find the missing number in the given series






a) 45
b) 30
c) 60
d) 75

7. If tree is called green, green is called rain, rain is called water, water is called air, air is called blue. Where do the fish swim?

a) water
b) rain
c) air
d) blue

8. Provide the most logical deduction Given the following premises –

i) All human beings are mortals
ii) All men are human beings which of the following is the most logical deduction?

a) All mortals are men
b) All men are mortals
c) All mortals are human beings
d) All human beings are men

9. Choose the most reasonable pair of words to fill in the blanks _________ is to verse as sculptor is to ________

a) Stanza-brick
b) Poem-book
c) Pen-hammer
d) Poet-statue

10. Fill in the blanks with the most logical choice _______ is to chain as bead is to necklace.

a) link
b) hole
c) wire
d) lock

An Update: The next session will appear on 2nd November, 2008. Till then, stay tuned.

What Is Conditional Reasoning?

Conditional reasoning is a term frequently used in Psychology. It is a special type of logical reasoning, which depends on conditional statements. For example, if you take a glass, then a diamond can surely make a scratch over it. The logic here is simple: if x, then y. Here x is the antecedent and y is the consequent. Many more examples can be given in this respect. For example, if more ice is melt in the North Pole, more people will be drown. Now, it's your time to think about different conditional reasoning. Time to brainstorm for more.

Now it is the time to know about the answers of the previous set.

1. d) ; 2. b) 36; 3. b) Rs. 140000; 4. c) AB = CD; 5. a) GTHS; 6. c) trouble makers; 7. c) cloth; 8. d) Delhi-England; 9. b) 50 m; 10. d) 24.

Are you ready to face today's questions? Here we go.

Today's (25th October, 2008) Questions

1. Fill in the next number in the series

10, 15, 20, 25, 30, _________

a) 40
b) 45
c) 35
d) 32

2. What is the ratio of volumes of two spheres whose radii are in the ratio 2 : 3?

a) 2:3
b) 4:9
c) 4:6
d) 8:27

3. The missing number in the given figure is




a) 44
b) 48
c) 40
d) 50

4. The greatest number of four digits beginning with 2 and ending with 8 is ________

a) 2988
b) 2998
c) 2999
d) 2908

5. Members of a club are gentlemen. Some members are officers. Officers are invited to a party. Therefore, we may deduce that

a) all members are invited to the party
b) all gentlemen are invited to the party
c) officers who are gentlemen are invited to the party
d) some gentlemen are invited to the party

6. Fill in the next number in the series

1, 4, 9, 16, 25, ______

a) 30
b) 35
c) 36
d) 40

7. Complete the series





8. Ten men can finish contraction of a wall in eight days. How many men are needed to finish the work is half-a-day?

a) 80
b) 100
c) 120
d) 160

9. Fill in the blanks with the most logical choice

Prison is to humans as cage is to ______________

a) birds
b) iron
c) wood
d) cart

10. Fill in the blanks with the most logical choice

Doctor works in clinic but scientist works in ___________

a) chemicals
b) elements
c) library
d) laboratory

An Update: The next session will appear on 29th October, 2008. Till then, stay tuned.

How to Become Successful in Learning

All of us know that knowledge is power and learning is the tool to empower this power. Learning as a tool allows us to manage our power. While visiting different sites, today I discovered an interesting site known as http://www.supermemo.com. It covers few remarkable pieces that can be of great interests to the readers. The author here discusses the shortest path of becoming successful in learning. First of all, you need to look after your craving for knowledge. Yes, it is important, since it prepares the base of your path to success.

Secondly, you need to make up your mind regarding your focus. Or in other words, you need to know about your own interest, which field(s) attracts you more. Then you need to locate the relevant and required information. As soon as you collect the relevant data, you need to build your own strategy to formulate the knowledge for active recall. You must know the technique of spaced repetition. By the way, you must put a close the eyes to knowledge management.

Now it is the time to know about the answers of the previous set.

1. a) Wide-fat; 2. c) The tea was sweet; 3. d) 19 days; 4. a) 63; 5. c) peace; 6. a) Rs. 12; 7. c) 15; 8. c) 32; 9. c) Sunday; 10. c) 18.

Are you ready to face today's questions? Here we go.

Today's (21st October, 2008) Questions

1.
Complete the series logically.

2.
Find the next number in the series

1, 8, 15, 22, 29, _____

a) 33
b) 36
c) 37
d) 39

3.
A businessman invests Rs. 5,000 each time at the end of 1960, 1965 and 1970. His total amount doubles every five years. If he starts his business with Rs. 5,000 in 1960, what will the amount be in 1980?

a) Rs. 70000
b) Rs. 140000
c) Rs. 240000
d) Rs. 280000

4.
Mark the correct relationship

a) AB > CD
b) CD > AB
c) AB = CD

5.
The next pair of letters in the series is:

AZBY, CXDW, EVFU, __________

a) GTHS
b) FTHS
c) GTIR
d) FTIR

6.
Gossiping is the usual pastime of

a) unemployed
b) lazy
c) trouble makers
d) everyone

7.
Fill in the blanks with the most logical choice

Table has wood as coat has ______________

a) wear
b) trouser
c) cloth
d) shirt

8.
Choose the most reasonable pair of words to fill in the blanks

__________ is to India as London is to _________

a) USA-UK
b) Indian-British
c) White-coloured
d) Delhi-England

9.
John started walking towards North. After walking 50 m he turned left and walked 40 m. He then turned left and walked 20 m. He again turned left and walked 80 m. How far is he from the starting point?

a) 60 m
b) 50 m
c) 40 m
d) 30 m

10.
How many vertical lines are include in the figure ABCD?

a) 3
b) 5
c) 15
d) 24

An Update: The next session will appear on 25th October, 2008. Till then, stay tuned.

Fluid Intelligence vs. Crystal Intelligence

Many psychologists have assumed that there are many factors of intelligence. Thurstone found seven factors of intelligence. On the other hand, Cattell found 2 factors governing these seven factors of intelligence. These factors he labeled as fluid intelligence and crystal intelligence. Fluid intelligence is a non-learned intelligence that is developed through the interaction with the environment and on the basis of cultural relations, such as reasoning ability to some extent. On the other hand, crystal intelligence is a learned intelligence, the tasks one learns throughout his or her life, such as mathematical ability. According to Cattell, fluid intelligence is essential to gain crystal intelligence.

Now it's time for the answers of the previous set.

1. c) ; 2. a) 126; 3. d) relaxed face; 4. c) to give first-aid to the victim; 5. d) 24; 6. c) 16; 7. c) 1:4; 8. c) 1130; 9. d) 14 sec; 10. b) ABC is not an equilateral triangles.

So, are you ready to fetch today's questions? Let us move forward then.

Today's (17th October, 2008) Questions

1.
Choose the most reasonable pair of words to fill in the blanks

________ is to narrow as thin is to ________

a) Wide-fat
b) Thin-thick
c) Sleek-smart
d) Nice-wide

2.
A man suffering from diabetes, ordered a cup of tea for himself in a restaurant. After he had mixed his tea with the required amount of low sweetness, a fly suddenly fell into the cup. Without tasting the tea he returned it and ordered another cup of tea. The waiter brought another cup and said, ‘fresh tea, Sir’. The customer took one sip and shouted back ‘this is the same cup of tea’. How did he know when he had not even tasted it earlier?

a) The cup was insect still in it
b) The tea was cold
c) The tea was sweet
d) The tea was sugarless

3.
It takes 20 days for a pond to get filled with rain water. If the level of water doubles each day, then how long would it take to fill half the pond?

a) 5 days
b) 10 days
c) 15 days
d) 19 days

4.
Find the missing number in the given series

a) 63
b) 67
c) 85
d) 120

5.
Spot the emotion that does not belong to the group

a) hurt
b) pain
c) peace
d) irritation

6.
Find the simple interest on Rs. 600 for six months at the rate of 4% interest per annum.

a) Rs. 12
b) Rs. 8
c) Rs. 24
d) Rs. 16

7.
How many squares can be spotted?

a) 8
b) 12
c) 15
d) 14

8.
1, 1, 2, 4, 4, 9, 8, 16, 16, 25, ( ) , 36

a) 25
b) 24
c) 32
d) 36

9.
It was Saturday on January 1, 1983, what was January 1, 1984

a) Friday
b) Saturday
c) Sunday
d) None of these

10.
In the chess-board given below, alternately checkered white and black squares are placed. If the position of white and black boxes is interchanged how many white boxes will there still be on the board?

a) 12
b) 15
c) 18
d) 20

An Update: The next session will appear on 21st October, 2008. Till then, stay tuned.

Biogenetics of Intelligence

Intelligence is a critical behavioral quantity which is governed by bio-psycho-sociological factors. Intellect can be defined as a phenomenon that constitutes the power of mind to execute a thinking behavior with reasoning ability for the purpose of gaining knowledge. However, intelligence even today is a very abstract concept and not all psychologists agree to each other.

Intelligence can be of various types. To put it simple, your sister might have an artistic instinct which you don’t have. Again you might have a good player instinct that your sister might not have. So it is really difficult to design any particular scale to measure one's level of intelligence.

With the advancement of the field of genetics, more and more researchers are now taking interest in finding out the genetic base of intelligence. We all know that both genetic factors and environmental factors have a strong influence on intelligence. Quite obviously, this makes intelligence a complex trait. We are not yet able to discover much how the quantity and quality of gene affects intelligence.

Different biogenetic studies suggest that monozygotic twins (MZ) show higher degree of correlation between intelligence and behavioral changes than dizygotic twins (DZ). The correlation between DNA sequence and behavioral difference is causal in natural, since DNA variations may influence the c change in behavioral pattern, but behavioral disparity does not lead to change in DNA sequence. There is still a strong debate, nature vs. nurture, when it comes to many psychological behaviors like intelligence.

Ok, now we need to know the answers of the previous set:

1. d) 16; 2. a) FGRNZ; 3. b); 4. c) 1/53; 5. b) 17; 6. c) 0.005; 7. d) to maintain unity; 8. d) 38; 9. c) 5 only; 10. c) Psychology is the science of behavior of all living organisms.

Now it's time to go for today's questions. Here it is.

Today's (15th October, 2008) Questions

1. Choose the alternative which completes the given series.

2. Find the next number in the series

1, 2, 9, 29, 65, _____

a) 126
b) 182
c) 196
d) 245

3. Spot the gesture that does not belong to the group

a) clenched first
b) accusing finger
c) taut muscles
d) relaxed face

4.) You arrive at the site of a road accident that has just occurred. Some persons in the crowd make false accusations and blame you for hurting victim. What will be your first and foremost duty, under the circumstances?

a) to run away
b) to reason out with the people
c) to give first-aid to the victim
d) to inform the police

5. In a class, 1/3 of the total students were regular absentees. On a particular day, in addition to the regular absentees, the number of other absentees was half of the regular absentees, which amounted to only 50% of the total attendance in the class. What is the total strength of the class?

a) 10
b) 15
c) 20
d) 24

6. A lady is making ‘Rangoli’ to decorate the door step of her house. To start with she puts 13 dots as shown in the given figure in a symmetrical placement. Before coloring the figure she join with straight lines, the points 1 to 9, 9 to 5, 5 to 13 and 1 to 13. Now state how many triangles would be she have in the figure to fill with colored dust for completing her ‘Rangoli’?

a) 8
b) 12
c) 16
d) 20

7. What is the ratio of the areas of two circles whose radii are in the ratio 1:2?

a) 1:2
b) 1:3
c) 1:4
d) 2:7

8. Arriving at the railway platform at 1000 hours, a man found that he was two hours 10 mins earlier than the man who on reaching at 1210 hours, found himself 40 mins late. What was the scheduled time of the train?

a) 1210
b) 1140
c) 1130
d) none of these

9. A train 65 meters long, takes 5 sec to cross a telegraph pole, how much time will it take to pass a station platform 117 meters long

a) 9 sec
b) 10 sec
c) 13 sec
d) 14 sec

10. Provide the most logical deduction
Given the following premises –
i) All equilateral triangle have three equal sides
ii) ABC is a triangle with two equal sides

which of the following is the most logical deduction?

a) All equilateral triangles have at least two equal sides
b) ABC is not an equilateral triangles
c) Some triangles are equilateral triangle
d) All triangles have three equal sides

An Update: The next session will appear on 17th October, 2008. Till then, stay tuned.

Is there Any Relation between Academic Intelligence and Beauty?

Today when I was looking at the picture of Einstein, when he was young, one question came into my mind. Is there any relation between academic intelligence and beauty? As the question strikes my mind, I started looking at different masterpieces. I find most of them have a godly beauty over their faces. On the other hand, if you look at people with low IQ or retarded ones, most of them look like a Mongolian child. I don’t know why this is so. But apparently it seems like that.

So, we can conclude that the Bell's curve can be drawn in the same way as it is drawn to illustrate distribution of intelligence among the population. I am not saying that all beautiful people are intelligent, but what I am trying to affirm is that people with high level of academic intelligence have a god-like facial expression.

Well, now it's time to read last day's answers. So here it is.

1. b) some confirmed basis; 2. a) 4; 3. d) 26; 4. a) 45.7K; 5. d) 35√2; 6. b) enemy’s; 7. a) 12; 8. d) Pluto; 9. b) 3 hours; 10. c) 1500.

Now are you ready to face today's questions? Here we go.

Today's (12th October, 2008) Questions

1.
How many triangles are there in the given figure?













a) 8
b) 10
c) 12
d) 16

2.
In a certain code QUICKLY is written as DHVPXYL. Then how is STEAM written in that code?

a) FGRNZ
b) FRGNZ
c) FGNRY
d) FGZRN

3.
State what should follow next in the series?















4.
Three players, while starting a game of cards, realize that instead of the regular two jokers in the pack of cards, they had only one. When they start playing, what do you think will be the probability of one of them getting the joker card?

a) 1/51
b) 1/52
c) 1/53
d) 1/54

5.
1, 5, 9, 13, ______

a) 16
b) 17
c) 19
d) 15

6.
How is ½% expressed as a decimal fraction?

a) 0.5
b) 0.05
c) 0.005
d) 0.0005

7.
You are a responsible citizen. Your country is facing war. What is your foremost duty?

a) to spread rumors
b) to create friction
c) to sit at home for protection
d) to maintain unity

8.
Find the missing numbers in the given series











a) 35
b) 36
c) 37
d) 38

9.)
Who are the people involved in academics, dramatics and debating?

a) 4 and 5
b) 5 and 6
c) 5 only
d) 7 only

10.
Psychology is the science of behavior. All living organism behave different. Science is the logical and controlled way of studying various phenomena. From these statements what follows:

a) Psychology is behavior
b) Psychology is living organism
c) Psychology is the science of behavior of all living organisms
d) Psychology is not a science

An Update: The next session will appear on 15th October, 2008. Till then, stay tuned.

Are Intelligent People Lonelier than Average People?

It is said that intelligent people are lonely by nature. But are they lonelier than average people? Many researchers are taking this issue under serious consideration. They try to even discover the root of the problem from the ground of gifted children. George Kaluger and Ruthe Martin are two researchers who have documented a paper called 'The Loneliness of the Gifted Child', in which they have clearly illustrated an interesting point that there is a strong positive correlation between academically gifted and social distance in the classroom, however, not in the elementary level.

To my belief, intelligent people are lonely, because they are not able to easily find out people of intellect at their own level, which causes them not being able to share their own feeling, skills and thoughts. They are unable to find out friends of their own age, of their own mental standards. Quite obviously, this results in inevitable loneliness at their end, from which they can't possibly escape. I can't generalize at this part, as I have only a few evidences in my hand.

Well, now we should concentrate on last post's answers. Here it is.

1. c) I and II only; 2. b) brown; 3. b) 5; 4. d) 37; 5. c) Olympics; 6. d) 60%; 7. c) sister; 8. c) ; 9. d) None of these; 10. c) 6.

Now are you ready for today's set?

Today (4th October, 2008) Questions

1. A rumor is a story blown out of proportion and it starts from

a) some unconfirmed basis
b) some confirmed basis
c) some distortion
d) none of these

2. Find the odd one out from the following.

a) 4
b) 14
c) 24
d) 34

3. How many squares are there in the given figure?



a) 16
b) 20
c) 24
d) 26

4. An entrepreneur starts a factory to produce clutch plates and gear boxes for light vehicles. If the graph of his earnings from the factory for one year is as follows, what is his annual income from the factory?

Graph of earnings

Jan Feb March April May June
+5.2K +3.7K -2.8K +1.2K +4.5K +3.5K

July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
+2.2K -3.8K +4.5K +9.5K +8.8K +9.2K

a) 45.7K
b) 52.3K
c) 55.7K
d) 58.9K

5. B is 15 miles east of A and 16 miles north of C is 10 miles west of D and D is 41 miles south of E. What is the distance of E from A in miles?

a) 30
b) 25
c) 30√2
d) 35√2

6. My _________ enemy is my friend.

a) friend’s
b) enemy’s
c) neighbor’s
d) brother’s

7. How many triangles?



a) 12
b) 10
c) 6
d) 11

8. If Venus is brighter than Mercury, Mercury is not brighter than Jupiter, Jupiter is brighter than Venus but not brighter than Pluto, then which of these is the brightest?

a) Jupiter
b) Mercury
c) Venus
d) Pluto

9. A girl was given two candles by her father for her birthday and was told that one candle would burn for six hours and the other, four hours. After they were both lit and allowed to burn or sometime, the girl noticed that one candle was twice as long as the other. State for how long the candles had been burning together?

a) 2 hours
b) 3 hours
c) 4 hours
d) 5 hours

10. Of which number is 900, 60%?

a) 1200
b) 1600
c) 1500
d) 1800

An Update: The next session will appear on 8th October, 2008. Till then, stay tuned.

Kids Can't Wait: An Amazing Endeavor

Many students across the nation pass out high school, however, not having the necessary skills they need to do their college program or to get a suitable job. Unfortunately, they do not possess even the skill of a 6th grader when they appear for their job screening test. Many teachers and administrators are consistently working on finding out the underlying causes of this issue and discover that English and Math are the primary measurable goals that provide the students the foundation of success.

Kidscantwait.org is an amazing endeavor in progress that helps high school students to become graduated with their own talents and skills. This is a campaign for the class of 2008. Ideally the diversified group of people including school leaders, parents, teachers, administrators, business people and government will act together to find out the solution and develop the plan to properly utilize the resources available for the targeted group of students who need them the most.

At Kidscantwait.org, Kids Can't Wait Campaign offers an additional academic support program to the high school students for the class of 2008 and beyond. It provides the support to all the students across the nation to get the access to an effective and valuable additional academic support for English and Math as they need them the most.

Is There Any Correlation between Intelligence and Depression?

Psychology is always one of my favorite subjects. While doing my masters degree in Psychology, I typically take interests in the areas like memory, intelligence and maladaptive behavior. Since then, one question knocked my head down: is there any correlation between depression and intelligence? Well, while many studies have found that there is no significant correlation between intelligence and depression, some studies claim just the opposite. In fact, many of them assert that intelligent people are characteristically depressed. They say that intelligent people tend to be unhappy. I believe it is somewhat true as we see many people with high IQ suffer from a certain degree of depression. But why there is a correlation? Here I would like to quote something from a website called recurrentdepression.com an answer, which I found really interesting. Here it is:

"But what is the ultimate twist on the intellect and depression? Something very surprising. In my research, I have found an extremely high association between intelligence and the likelihood of becoming severely depressed. In fact, a high IQ is a good predictor of depression. Why? Simply because those with higher intelligence are amazingly “creative” with their inner dialogues.

Some of the characteristics of high intelligence are an above-average imagination, superior verbal ability, and advanced analytical skills. This is the perfect recipe for cooking-up very elaborate, and very negative, inner dialogues. And that’s exactly what happens. This helps explain the well-known phenomenon of “tormented geniuses”. Simply, their submission response is often out-of-control. And, despite their genius, they don’t know how to stop it".

Well, now there is a no time for depression. Let us discover the answers of the previous post. Here we go.

1. d) 115 cm; 2. b) 13; 3. c) Wednesday; 4. d) ; 5. b) .02; 6. c) rage; 7. d) ; 8. d) familiarity; 9. c) ; 10. b) 135.

So, are you ready to face today's set? Yes, right? So, here we go.

Today's (1st October, 2008) Questions

1. If N is an integer multiple of 5, which of the following integers must also be integer multiples of 5:

I. N + 15 II. 7N III. N/5

a) I only
b) II only
c) I and II only
d) I, II, III

2. Mark the item that does not belong to the group

a) yellow
b) brown
c) violet
d) indigo

3. Spot the odd figure



a) 2
b) 5
c) 4
d) 9

4. Find the missing link in the series

2, 7, 17, 22, 32, ( ), 47

a) 36
b) 40
c) 45
d) 37

5. The symbol for



a) the FBI
b) AIR
c) Olympics
d) The CBI

6. In the examination, 30% of the students fail in Maths, 25% fail in English, and 15% in both. What is the pass percentage?

a) 45%
b) 55%
c) 40%
d) 60%

7. Pointing to a women in a group photograph Rita said “Her sister’s father is the only son of my grandfather.” How is Rita related to women in the photograph?

a) mother
b) aunt
c) sister
d) daughter

8. When a star figure is reflected through a mirror fixed vertically on top the reflected image will look like

9. A child was born on August 8, 1978. It was Tuesday. What will be his birthday in the year 1986?

a) Monday
b) Thursday
c) Saturday
d) None of these

10. A boy goes to his school walking at the rate of 4kmph. He comes back on a bicycle at the rate of 12kmph. His average speed for the entire journey in kmph is:

a) 8
b) 7
c) 6
d) 4

Do you like them? Can't hear you! :o( Hey, why don't you write them out here in the comment box? I would love to read them. The next show time will be on 4th October, 2008. Till then, Good Bye.