Quick 'test of intelligence' looks 'pretty simple' - but it catches people out

11 January 2024 , 15:00

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Studies have proved that the more you exercise your brain by solving hard puzzles and brainteasers, the smarter you tend to be (stock image) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

This "no tricks or twists" test is seemingly simple but leaves many feeling deceiving confident - it is harder that is appears.

Whether you were a comprehension and literacy whizz at school, or if it was your most dreaded subject, we can all remember sitting in class trying to identify significant features in sentences. So why not brush up on your skills and see if you can figure out the answer to this seemingly easy yet hard question?

Studies have proved that the more you exercise your brain by solving hard puzzles and brainteasers, the smarter you tend to be. This brain teaser can improve problem-solving skills and enhance your critical thinking.

This quiz, by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, is a test of intelligence. Are you among the small percent who can get this first time? Read on to find out.

Read this sentence:

Nursery apologises after child with Down's syndrome ‘treated less favourably’

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT
OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC
STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

Now, you need to count aloud the number of Fs that you can see. The rules are - count them only once, do not go back or count them again. What is your answer?

Answer:

There are six Fs in the sentence. There is no catch. Many people reportedly miss out the F in 'of' despite appearing three times in the sentence. The human brain tends to identify these Fs as Vs. If you spotted four, five, or even all six, you beat the average.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences said: "The phenomenal power of the human mind, according to a research at Cambridge University, it does not matter in what order the letter of a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be in the right place.

"The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without a problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole."

Did you manage to solve the brainteaser?

If you enjoyed this one, why not try another puzzle here.

Lucy Marshall