Cognitive Daily reports nearly every day on fascinating peer-reviewed developments in cognition from the most respected scientists in the field.
The America versus the World Casual Fridays study was our most popular test yet: The 500 survey slots filled in less than 24 hours. I promised to provide the quiz answers, and you'll find them below.
Some of our readers have asked why we don't allow everyone to respond, and the reason is simple: we have to pay for the survey software, and it costs us 5 cents per response. If one of our studies was linked by a major site such as Digg or Slashdot, that could amount to hundreds of dollars. If anyone knows of a survey site that doesn't have this requirement, please let us know!
That said, I have figured out a way that readers can continue to play, albeit in a pared-down way. I picked four of the most difficult questions: two states and two countries, and instead of giving the answers, I've turned them into polls. You can make your guess, then see how others have responded. If the results here match the survey results, eventually the correct responses will be clear, but you won't see them until you've made your guess. Make sure you answer the polls before you look at the rest of the answers, though -- the answers will give you some hints.
We'll offer a full analysis of the original study results on Friday.
Serbia
Malaysia
Yemen
Vietnam
Sudan
Venezuela
Denmark
Nepal
Mississippi
West Virginia
Kentucky
Maine
Rhode Island
Arkansas
Utah
Nebraska
Comments
There is a mistake. What you are calling Alabama is actually Mississippi.
Posted by: John | January 22, 2007 8:13 AM
Oops! Yes, sorry!
I fixed it now; just a typo in the answers, which won't affect our data analysis.
Posted by: Dave Munger | January 22, 2007 8:18 AM
I did quite well on both, but did world a bit better (only one wrong) than the USA (a couple wrong). I need to travel around the US more....
Posted by: coturnix | January 22, 2007 8:37 AM
Okay, it's looking like the collective wisdom of the group still isn't revealing the answer to number 2, so I'll reveal it here: Indonesia.
One commenter on the other thread felt this question was a bit unfair, since the island of Borneo is divided between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, and the capital is actually on the island of Java (south of Borneo).
Posted by: Dave Munger | January 22, 2007 8:47 AM
I still think that comparing knowledge of the US States to knowledge of world countries is slightly US-centric.
Posted by: Maria | January 22, 2007 9:02 AM
Yes, I agree. But being from the U.S., I still want to know!
That said, it might have been better to test U.S. cities versus world cities. We could have even controlled for population.
Posted by: Dave Munger | January 22, 2007 9:12 AM
my problem was that the US map sometimes was not clear enough, and since I could no see the state limits, I didn't which state it was.
Posted by: Mara | January 22, 2007 10:29 AM
Is knowing the name of a state/country on a map deemed some measure of a person's intelligence? I don't think so.
Every time I hear "59% of America's 8th graders couldn't find Chicago on a map!" I wonder what is supposed to be the big point. I don't know where you all shop but, except for the blank ones that I had to fill out in school, every map that I've ever used actually has the names of all states and countries on them already. I've always felt that that was what made them useful.
It's not clear to me that the ability to name the states has any value other than entertainment.
Posted by: Pi Guy | January 22, 2007 1:36 PM
You know. I live in the US, but I *always* mess up when it comes to Colorado and Wyoming.
Really, states east of the Mississippi are so much easier to remember. Those square states bother me.
And this reminded me of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Posted by: Kelly | January 22, 2007 3:21 PM
I wouldn't have gotten any of the country ones, though I did get the 2 sample ones. But I got all the state ones except for Nebraska. :)
Posted by: mamagaea | January 22, 2007 11:05 PM
I noticed an interesting trend in the polls above, and I may try to analyze the survey for this as well: it seems to me that responses were less accurate early on, then got more accurate with time, as if those who thought longer about whether to try were better at geography.
Posted by: Dave Munger | January 23, 2007 9:00 AM
Ask where is Portugal!
I am curious to see the American answers to that!!
Posted by: Ran | February 13, 2007 1:17 PM
And by the way, ask them about the History!
They just know U.S. history, U.K., colonies, and something about XX century like the war in Vietnam! And maybe not even that! hehehe!
Posted by: Ran | February 13, 2007 1:22 PM
Hey there! It's me again!
Look what I just found today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE
It destroys completely the conclusion of this test.
That's life!
Posted by: Ran | February 14, 2007 2:35 PM
i missed all of them
i guess that i am really stupid
Posted by: poopypants | February 1, 2008 11:25 AM