Finding hidden rules
Rule Hunter
A secret rule decides which pictures belong. Study the examples that follow it and the ones that do not, then sort six new pictures.
How to play
- Each round shows four pictures that follow the rule and four that do not.
- Decide for each of six new pictures whether it follows the rule.
- Check your answers to see the rule. Rounds move from one-part rules to two-part and tricky rules.
What it trains
Inductive reasoning: building a general rule from a handful of examples. Scientists, doctors and detectives do the same thing when they work out what a set of cases has in common.
Like any brain game, it makes you better at this kind of puzzle. There is little evidence that games like this raise IQ itself, so treat it as practice and fun.
Learn the trick
Use the ✕ examples, not just the ✓ ones. A feature that all the ✓ pictures share is only the rule if none of the ✕ pictures have it too.
Test one feature at a time. Pictures here differ in three ways: shape, shading and how many there are. Check each of the three on its own before combining them.
Try "and", "or" and "not". If no single feature works, the rule may need two features at once (black and circles), either of two (triangles or grey), or everything except one thing.
Check your guess on all eight examples. A rule that fits seven of them is the wrong rule.