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- Sun Jul 20, 2014 11:00 pm
#35755
Setup and Rule Diagram Explanation
This is a Pattern Game.
The game scenario establishes that four employees (J, K, L, and M) are transferring workpieces among themselves over a four-day workweek, Monday—Thursday. On any given day, each employee works on exactly one workpiece, and then transfers it to a different employee on the following day. Each piece is worked on for 4 consecutive days (though not necessarily by four different employees). This creates a Pattern game—a variation of the Linear game type—in which the rules are not specific to a single position or variable per se. Instead, they govern the general action of all the variables, and thus create an overarching system that restricts the solution range of the game as a whole.
With that in mind, your initial setup should look like this:
This setup will keep track of who works on what piece, and when. Since the four pieces are functionally identical, there is no need to label them as 1, 2, 3, etc. Furthermore, each employee works on exactly one piece per day, which means that each column must contain all four of the variables (J, K, L, and M), with no duplication. Note, however, that the number of times an employee can work on the same piece over the four consecutive days is unknown.
Since work begins on Monday, we can safely assign each employee to one of the four different pieces, as shown below:
The game has only three basic rules, banning three different transfer possibilities of workpieces amongst the employees:
Although Tuesday shows some uncertainty with respect to three of the transfers, the uncertainty is limited to Dual Options. Furthermore, each choice of transfer affects another: for instance, if J transfers to K, then L must transfer to M. Consequently, K must transfer to L. Thus, we can begin to draw two templates: one where J transfers to K, and another where J transfers to L:
From these two templates, we can see all the transfer possibilities from Monday to Tuesday. We can do the same for the transfers that could occur from Tuesday to Wednesday:
Just like before, each of these templates can be split into two (total of 4) in order to show the possible assignments of employees to workpieces on Wednesday. Few test-takers opted to do this, and while it would have helped in a few of the questions, it was unnecessary. After all, once the pattern of transfer sequences has been identified, the questions should be quite doable.
Needless to say, for test takers who have never been exposed to a Pattern game, this was an incredibly confusing situation, and many people reported not being able to even start the game (no diagram, inferences, or insights whatsoever). While detecting the pattern of transfers would have made the questions significantly easier, the game can still be attacked successfully without ever understanding the pattern. The key is to understand the action described in the scenario, and identify strongly with each individual rule. Indeed, if all you did was turn the negative rules into positive statements (infer what must be true from what cannot be true), the game would have been at least somewhat manageable.
This is a Pattern Game.
The game scenario establishes that four employees (J, K, L, and M) are transferring workpieces among themselves over a four-day workweek, Monday—Thursday. On any given day, each employee works on exactly one workpiece, and then transfers it to a different employee on the following day. Each piece is worked on for 4 consecutive days (though not necessarily by four different employees). This creates a Pattern game—a variation of the Linear game type—in which the rules are not specific to a single position or variable per se. Instead, they govern the general action of all the variables, and thus create an overarching system that restricts the solution range of the game as a whole.
With that in mind, your initial setup should look like this:
This setup will keep track of who works on what piece, and when. Since the four pieces are functionally identical, there is no need to label them as 1, 2, 3, etc. Furthermore, each employee works on exactly one piece per day, which means that each column must contain all four of the variables (J, K, L, and M), with no duplication. Note, however, that the number of times an employee can work on the same piece over the four consecutive days is unknown.
Since work begins on Monday, we can safely assign each employee to one of the four different pieces, as shown below:
The game has only three basic rules, banning three different transfer possibilities of workpieces amongst the employees:
J 
M
K J
L J
- 1. J cannot transfer her workpiece to M, so she needs to transfer it to either K or L;
J K/L
2. K cannot transfer her workpiece to J, so she needs to transfer it to L or M;
K L/M
3. L cannot transfer her workpiece to J, so she needs to transfer it to K or M
L K/M
- M J
Although Tuesday shows some uncertainty with respect to three of the transfers, the uncertainty is limited to Dual Options. Furthermore, each choice of transfer affects another: for instance, if J transfers to K, then L must transfer to M. Consequently, K must transfer to L. Thus, we can begin to draw two templates: one where J transfers to K, and another where J transfers to L:
From these two templates, we can see all the transfer possibilities from Monday to Tuesday. We can do the same for the transfers that could occur from Tuesday to Wednesday:
Just like before, each of these templates can be split into two (total of 4) in order to show the possible assignments of employees to workpieces on Wednesday. Few test-takers opted to do this, and while it would have helped in a few of the questions, it was unnecessary. After all, once the pattern of transfer sequences has been identified, the questions should be quite doable.
Needless to say, for test takers who have never been exposed to a Pattern game, this was an incredibly confusing situation, and many people reported not being able to even start the game (no diagram, inferences, or insights whatsoever). While detecting the pattern of transfers would have made the questions significantly easier, the game can still be attacked successfully without ever understanding the pattern. The key is to understand the action described in the scenario, and identify strongly with each individual rule. Indeed, if all you did was turn the negative rules into positive statements (infer what must be true from what cannot be true), the game would have been at least somewhat manageable.
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