Pymetrics Games Planning and Strategy Games 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In a Pymetrics multi-player planning game, your team must collectively reach a score of 100 in 5 rounds. After 3 rounds you have 45 points. What average score per round do you need in the final 2 rounds?
- 20
- 27.5 (Correct answer)
- 30
- 55
Correct answer: 27.5
You need 100 − 45 = 55 more points over 2 rounds, so 55 ÷ 2 = 27.5 points per round.
Question 2: A Pymetrics spatial planning game requires you to mentally rotate a 3D shape and determine if it matches a target. This task PRIMARILY measures:
- Verbal reasoning and language ability
- Visuospatial reasoning and mental manipulation (Correct answer)
- Numerical processing speed
- Emotional intelligence
Correct answer: Visuospatial reasoning and mental manipulation
Mental rotation tasks directly assess visuospatial reasoning — the ability to mentally transform and compare 3D objects.
Question 3: In a Pymetrics strategy game where you choose to 'cooperate' or 'defect' each round against the same opponent, the Tit-for-Tat strategy dictates you should:
- Always cooperate no matter what the opponent does
- Always defect to maximize your own score
- Copy the opponent's previous move each round (Correct answer)
- Randomly alternate between cooperate and defect
Correct answer: Copy the opponent's previous move each round
Tit-for-Tat starts with cooperation and then mirrors the opponent's last action, making it retaliatory to defection but forgiving of cooperation.
Question 4: In a Pymetrics planning game, you must deliver packages to 4 locations starting and ending at a depot. You can visit locations in any order. This is an example of which classic problem type?
- The Knapsack Problem
- The Travelling Salesman Problem (Correct answer)
- The Prisoner's Dilemma
- The Secretary Problem
Correct answer: The Travelling Salesman Problem
Finding the shortest route visiting multiple locations and returning to the origin is the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP).
Question 5: A Pymetrics game rewards you $10 if both players choose 'A,' $6 each if both choose 'B,' but $15 for one player and $0 for the other if they choose differently. Without communication, the MOST common coordination outcome is:
- Both choose A (the safer mutual payoff) (Correct answer)
- Both choose B
- Players split randomly between A and B
- One always chooses A and the other always chooses B
Correct answer: Both choose A (the safer mutual payoff)
In coordination games without communication, players gravitate toward the 'focal point' — the option that feels natural or salient, which here is the symmetric $10/$10 outcome.
Question 6: In a Pymetrics task where you plan a sequence of 6 steps and can only see 2 steps ahead at a time, the BEST approach is to:
- Commit to a full plan before making any move
- Make locally optimal choices at each visible step
- Plan the full sequence by repeatedly looking 2 steps ahead and building forward (Correct answer)
- Skip steps to see further ahead
Correct answer: Plan the full sequence by repeatedly looking 2 steps ahead and building forward
When visibility is limited, you extend planning by chaining multiple 2-step lookaheads forward, building a full strategy incrementally rather than relying only on local information.
Question 7: Pymetrics uses planning games to assess 'executive function.' Which of the following behaviors would MOST negatively impact an executive function score?
- Pausing briefly before each move to think
- Frequently changing your plan based on new data
- Acting impulsively without evaluating options (Correct answer)
- Taking slightly longer than the suggested time limit
Correct answer: Acting impulsively without evaluating options
Executive function includes inhibitory control — the ability to suppress impulsive responses and deliberate before acting; impulsivity directly undermines this capacity.
Pymetrics Games Planning and Strategy Games 5
In a Pymetrics multi-player planning game, your team must collectively reach a score of 100 in 5 rounds.
After 3 rounds you have 45 points.
What average score per round do you need in the final 2 rounds?