Reasoning traps
Altered classic puzzles that catch memorised answers. 16 prompts. Search and filter these.
| Prompt | Difficulty | Lang | What it tests | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trolley problem with five dead people | easy | EN | Reading versus pattern-matching: the five people on the main track are already dead. | Misguided Attention |
| Inverse Monty Hall: two cars, one donkey | medium | EN | Whether the model recomputes the probabilities when the classic setup is inverted. | Misguided Attention |
| Schrödinger's cat that is already dead | easy | EN | Reading the first sentence: the cat is dead when it goes into the box. | Misguided Attention |
| River crossing where the boat fits both | easy | EN | Resisting a memorised multi-trip puzzle solution when one trip is enough. | Misguided Attention |
| Measure 4 litres with a 6 l and a 12 l jug | medium | EN | Checking feasibility before searching: every measurable amount is a multiple of gcd(6, 12) = 6. | Misguided Attention |
| Measure 3 litres with a 1 l and a 2 l jug | easy | EN | Avoiding list-writing autopilot on a trivial task. | Misguided Attention |
| 1 kilogram of feathers or 1 pound of steel | easy | EN | Units over the memorised 'they weigh the same'. | Misguided Attention |
| 13 coins, one fake, and a digital scale | medium | EN | Adapting to the tool actually given: a digital scale shows weights; it isn't a two-pan balance. | Misguided Attention |
| Measure 60 minutes with two 60-minute ropes | easy | EN | Spotting that the target equals one rope's burn time. | Misguided Attention |
| Measure 20 minutes with two 60-minute ropes | hard | EN | Admitting when the standard tricks can't reach the target. | Misguided Attention |
| Birthday problem: at least two do NOT share | medium | EN | Reading the negation instead of solving the famous version. | Misguided Attention |
| 50 machines, 5 minutes, 5 widgets | medium | EN | Rate reasoning on a variant of the cognitive reflection test. | Misguided Attention |
| Stolen bat and ball: what did I pay? | easy | EN | Noticing the word 'stole'. | Misguided Attention |
| Lotus flowers growing by two per day | medium | EN | Linear versus exponential: the classic lily-pad answer (day 39) assumes doubling. | Misguided Attention |
| Knights and knaves with no consistent answer | hard | EN | Detecting a contradiction instead of forcing an assignment. | Misguided Attention |
| A 7-litre bucket with no bottom and a sealed top | easy | EN | Spatial insight: turn it over. | Misguided Attention |
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