Pymetrics Games Core Game Mechanics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Why is it inadvisable to always pump the balloon to the maximum in every round of the Pymetrics Balloon Game?
- The game has a fixed pop point at 32 pumps for all balloons
- Each balloon has a random pop threshold, making maximum pumping high-risk (Correct answer)
- Pumping past 20 times removes all previous earnings
- The assessor can see the pop threshold and penalizes guessing
Correct answer: Each balloon has a random pop threshold, making maximum pumping high-risk
Each balloon has a randomly assigned explosion point, so always pumping to the max leads to frequent losses and reflects extreme risk-seeking behavior.
Question 2: In the Pymetrics Tower of London planning game, what is the key behavioral signal assessors look for?
- Speed of first move only
- Number of moves taken relative to the minimum required (Correct answer)
- Whether the player uses undo buttons
- Total time spent on the easiest configuration
Correct answer: Number of moves taken relative to the minimum required
Using fewer moves (closer to the theoretical minimum) demonstrates planning ahead and efficient problem-solving rather than trial and error.
Question 3: During the Pymetrics Trust game, Player A sends money to Player B. The amount triples, and Player B decides how much to return. What does Player A's initial send amount reflect?
- Their financial literacy
- Their level of trust in strangers (Correct answer)
- Their numerical estimation skill
- Their loss aversion score
Correct answer: Their level of trust in strangers
The amount Player A chooses to send reflects their baseline level of trust, since sending more money means trusting Player B to return a fair share.
Question 4: In the Pymetrics attention task, a target stimulus appears among distractors. Responding quickly to non-targets when you should wait tests which ability?
- Sustained attention over time
- Selective attention and distractor suppression (Correct answer)
- Divided attention across two channels
- Top-down attentional control
Correct answer: Selective attention and distractor suppression
The task requires suppressing responses to distractors while targeting the correct stimulus, which measures selective attention and the ability to filter irrelevant information.
Question 5: If a candidate consistently rejects low offers in the Pymetrics Money Exchange game even at personal cost, which trait profile does this most suggest?
- High conscientiousness
- High fairness sensitivity and lower economic rationality (Correct answer)
- High risk tolerance
- High extraversion
Correct answer: High fairness sensitivity and lower economic rationality
Rejecting unfair offers even when accepting would yield some gain indicates a strong sense of fairness that overrides pure economic self-interest.
Question 6: Which game mechanic in Pymetrics specifically measures a candidate's ability to learn and update strategies based on feedback?
- The Balloon Game
- The Keypress Game
- The Card Sorting (weather prediction) game (Correct answer)
- The Digits Backward Game
Correct answer: The Card Sorting (weather prediction) game
The Card Sorting or probabilistic learning game requires players to discover hidden patterns from feedback, measuring adaptive learning and cognitive flexibility.
Question 7: In the Pymetrics Digits Backward task, recalling a sequence in reverse order compared to forward recall specifically adds demand on which process?
- Phonological loop capacity
- Mental manipulation within working memory (Correct answer)
- Long-term memory retrieval
- Visual encoding speed
Correct answer: Mental manipulation within working memory
Backward recall requires actively manipulating the sequence in working memory rather than simply repeating it, placing higher demands on executive working memory processes.
Pymetrics Games Core Game Mechanics 3
Why is it inadvisable to always pump the balloon to the maximum in every round of the Pymetrics Balloon Game?