Fractally Finding the Odd One Out: An Analogical Strategy For Noticing Novelty

Abstract

The Odd One Out test of intelligence consists of 3×3 matrix reasoning problems organized in 20 levels of difficulty. Addressing problems on this test appears to require integration of multiple cognitive abilities usually associated with creativity, including visual encoding, similarity assessment, pattern detection, and analogical transfer. We describe a novel fractal strategy for addressing visual analogy problems on the Odd One Out test. In our strategy, the relationship between images is encoded fractally, capturing important aspects of similarity as well as inherent self-similarity. The strategy starts with fractal representations encoded at a high level of resolution, but, if that is not sufficient to resolve ambiguity, it automatically adjusts itself to the right level of resolution for addressing a given problem. Similarly, the strategy starts with searching for fractally-derived similarity between simpler relationships, but, if that is not sufficient to resolve ambiguity, it automatically shifts to search for such similarity between higher-order relationships. We present preliminary results and initial analysis from applying the fractal technique on nearly 3,000 problems from the Odd One Out test.

Fractally Finding the Odd One Out: An Analogical Strategy For Noticing Novelty

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