Practical Intelligence and Problem Solving
The Practical Intelligence and Problem Solving domain presents everyday decisions: choosing the cheaper offer, scheduling tasks, allocating limited resources, following a timetable or notice, and choosing a safe or ethical action. The correct answer usually satisfies all stated constraints with the least waste.
Core rules
- Define the goal and constraints first: time, money, people, deadlines, safety.
- Compare unit costs, not sticker prices; include fixed charges such as delivery or transport.
- Respect dependencies: a task that needs another task’s output cannot start earlier.
- Use parallel capacity: if two independent tasks can run at once, total time is the longer task, not the sum.
- Check the answer against every condition before choosing it.
Worked example
An item costs Rs. 150. Offer A is “3 for 2”; Offer B is 35% off each item. For six items, Offer A means paying for four: 4 × 150 = 600, or Rs. 100 each. Offer B gives 150 × 0.65 = 97.50 each, or Rs. 585 for six. Offer B is cheaper by Rs. 15. The reasoning is unit cost after all conditions, not the size of the headline discount.
Traps
- Comparing “3 for 2” with “35% off” by the discount wording instead of the final cost.
- Ignoring a fixed fee or a minimum purchase.
- Scheduling dependent tasks in parallel.
- Choosing the fastest option when it violates safety or a deadline.
- Stopping at the first workable answer instead of checking “best.”
Write the constraint list before calculating; it prevents solving the wrong problem.