I think you already know the answer, because you probably passed a large number of these types of tests (SAT's, etc.). There are standard "test-type" questions with "test-type" answers, and people who look for holes tend to be labelled by the testing process as "smart-alecks", and weeded out. Regardless of our rhetoric, we really can't allow people who "think different" into our hallowed halls. Thus, we *already* have a "bias favouring candidates neurologically similar to the examiners" -- something that blacks & minorities have complained about for years. On the other hand, when considering the state of the world, remember that the great majority of those college graduates who -- * develop our tax codes * develop our environmental regulations * oversee our health care system * overlook our financial institutions * sit on the Supreme Court * send our children into battle * negotiate our trade deals * diagnose our diseases * manage our pension plans * defend us in court * etc. -- can't pass this simple logic test. Perhaps tests like this could be used prior to spending large amounts of money "teaching everyone to code (badly)". At 05:00 AM 5/5/2017, Fred Lunnon wrote:

<< This particular question has been posed to large numbers of people (college students, mostly, because they are readily available and free), and only 10-20% get it right. >>

So what IS "the" answer, and why exactly is it "right" ?

[ Interesting to speculate how a battery of such innocent-looking questions at a job interview could result in a --- possibly unintentional and undetectable --- bias favouring candidates neurologically similar to the examiners! ]