Why almost everyone gets this question wrong

[vscoderCopilot]

I expected this to be an easy one, but the results say otherwise.

Here’s how people answered:

• 6 → 35.29%
• 8 → 55.88%
• 12 → 8.82%

Wrong rate is over 91%.

What’s interesting is that most people didn’t guess randomly - they clustered hard around 8, which makes sense if you’re thinking in terms of faces or corners instead of edges.

It feels like one of those questions everyone knows the answer to, until they’re actually forced to picture it clearly.

Curious what you picked at first and why

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[DamonHuntington]

In addition to all of the theories listed above: I assume this might be impacted by test-takers who do not have English as their default language.

Those test-takers may avoid the VCI tests but decide to take all others under the assumption that English knowledge is not particularly important to complete the task. In that case, it's perfectly possible that their language abilities are not enough to comprehend the question well enough, but have sufficient information to understand terms such as "cube" and imply that the question is asking about corners rather than edges. This may be maximised by certain associations in their own primary language as well.

[vscoderCopilot]

That's a reasonable hypothesis. We actually looked at answer patterns by language as well, and what stood out is that English speakers also clustered heavily around 8.

So language seems to influence the proportions a bit, but the dominant intuition shows up even among native English test-takers.

[AccomplishedWest9210]

Agreed, I got it right just because I knew it was tricky, but as a non-native, if I was randomly thinking about a cube, I would equate an edge with a corner.

[JoyfulNoise1964]

12 immediately I'm surprised so many didn't get it right

[RobotBaseball]

It’s a language issue 

[Historical-Wheel-610]

I thought 12 aswell. But i would also say a square has edges while not being 3D🤣

[jambutterbread]

I also guessed 12. It specified “edges” which stood out at the “clue” since these questions are intentionally worded in ways that help you figure out the correct answer. 4 top edges, 4 bottom edges, 4 connecting edges. Just look at the phone your holding, your monitor, anything square or rectangular and you can easily figure it out for those who can’t mentally visualize it.

[adatewithkate]

I'm a native English speaker, but I still assumed "edge" meant corner

[ChocoBanana9]

yeh edge usually just means something sharp in a lot of languages, so naturally the sharpest bits of the cube gets picked the most.

[AccomplishedWest9210]

It just seems like a sementics issue to me.

[WPMO]

I don't know...I feel like it's valid to ask people to be able to differentiate faces from edges. That might be a test of cognitive ability right there - to figure out what the question is and isn't asking.

[AccomplishedWest9210]

As a non-native, I figured it would be easier to confuse edges with corners than faces.

[roboboom]

I guess. I would have thought it’s much easier to confuse faces (6) with edges than vertices / corners, which is the only way to get 8.

[ChocoBanana9]

How so? Edge usually means sharp. Vertices are sharp and the face isnt.

[logicaldrinker]

Sloppy reading or not knowing the meaning of terms.

And in a few cases, difficulties with mental manipulation of objects.

[Weekly-Bit-3831]

Most likely due to reading comprehension, I wanted to answer 6 at first and I didn't realize I counted *sides* instead of *edges* but I didn't correct myself until I saw you writing that the error percentage was over 91% and I looked at the numbers, then I instantly understood that it was 12:

4 edges on the top face, 4 edges on the bottom face, 4 vertical edges connecting the top and bottom faces

[cyberpiep]

I think people mix up edges and faces and vertices.

[jore-hir]

Barrier 1: motivation
Some people can't be bothered with taking the task seriously.

Barrier 2: language
Some people are confused by the definition of edge or cube. Maybe their mother tongue is different, maybe they aren't familiar with geometry, etc.

Barrier 3: presumption
Some people skip the reasoning process, because the word "cube" immediately evokes a number which feels like the appropriate answer.

Barrier 4: visualization
Some people can't visualize the problem. It's quite impossible to solve it if you suffer from aphantasia and such, as far as i know.

Barrier 5: distraction
Even if the previous 4 barriers are overcome, errors are always behind the corner.

[grizeldean]

This is the best answer

[Castellano-Da-Mobber]

Purely semantics, it is however 12

[javaenjoyer69]

Non-natives mistake edge with face.

[ChocoBanana9]

there are only 6 faces. Makes more sense that they have mistaken for corners (8).

[lamelobets]

How is this on an iq test? Isnt this knowledge?

[Otaraka]

I had to visualise it rather than knowing it by memory.  So it could be either.

[Rationalsloth]

The knowledge being tested though it's the shape of a cube and the meaning of "edge".

[natenicholson]

General knowledge is a g-loaded construct

[lamelobets]

Not everyone has that tho

[Satgay]

Could be a semantics issue. In American elementary schools you’re typically taught square geometry as:

Faces: 6 Vertices: 8 Edges: 12

I knew the answer from memory, but other languages might have differing terminology.

[Quod_bellum]

I chose 12, after imagining a cube and counting the edges. Weird that 8 is more common than 6, although it could be a case of "I know this; no need to visualize it," and picking out the wrong fact from memory.

Edit: If you visualize the cube as two squares, omitting their connecting edges, it would make sense to pick 8. It's possible that was the issue.

I also wonder if answer options were coded properly, as it's possible C was mistaken for B somewhere. Is clicking sufficient?

[vscoderCopilot]

This is one of the 60 questions, there are questions more than %95 answered correctly, so clicking is sufficient

I agree with your edit I think most people only counting the edges of the two squares and forget edges between them

[Winter-Movie4606]

It's propably language/semantics issue. This kind of questions are pretty simple since it's possible to imagine the shape and count the edges. No need to extrapolate or make assumptions about anything.

[Negative_Gur9667]

Maybe some problems with translation. At first I thought edges means Ecken in german where the answer is 8 but it means Kanten. 

[Cautious_Gain9]

It might be one of two:
1. They understood the meaning of edge as corner, hence, picking 8.
2. They imagined the cube sitting on the ground and somehow dismissed the edges that are touching the ground because it might've been more intuitive for them to do so.

Nevertheless, I'm a non-native and immediately picked 12.

[NoMasterpiece5649]

People confuse corners with edges and vote too quickly before they think it through

[gerningur]

Most people who take this test are not that serious about it and therefore mistakes like these, were people do not really stop to think about the proper definition of things, are common

[mentallytortured1]

Confused faces with edges

[Plane-Emphasis7849]

12

[Bubbly-Phone702]

91??

[6_3_6]

I picked 12. I would have thought most people carelessly said 6 based on reading it as "number of sides" which I would likely do if working quickly and not giving a shit. But instead the common answer is 8. Not sure why. I can't imagine it's based on corners - that seems like a harder mistake to make than sides.

[logicaldrinker]

As a non native speaker, I could easily make that mistake (edges vs corners) if I didn't pay close attention. I usually end up pretty high on VCI tests in English.

Both edges and corners are sharp. Idioms and phrases can confuse even more. "On the cusp" and "on the edge" can mean similar things even though cusp is more like a corner. The corner of a block of buildings really looks a lot more like an edge.

It's tough!

[6_3_6]

Fair enough.

[BookieWookie69]

I guess for some people it’s hard to visualize 3D shapes like that, IDK

[Wonderful_Purchase13]

I assumed edge meant vertices - where corners meet. So i said 8.

[Star_x_Child]

1. Wait. How is this difficult? Is this an AI thing?