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I agree. "adding the two numbers to the right and left of it on the row above it" makes no sense to me whatsoever. I could interpret that in about many differen

by logn 14y ago

I agree. "adding the two numbers to the right and left of it on the row above it" makes no sense to me whatsoever. I could interpret that in about many different ways, and during an interview I'd probably crack. To put this in perspective, I got a 1450 on the SATs. My thought process: I take a number, add the right and left on the same row, then put the result on the upper row. Or, add the left and right and current and put it on the row above. After a while I guess you mean any position is the sum of the numbers to the 1 position upper left and upper right.

thejsjunky 14y ago
> I could interpret that in about many different ways If you look at the graphic that always comes with this question, there's only one way you could possibly interpret it. If you somehow misinterpret the text, you would know immediately when you test your mental model against the graphic. To be fair, the screwed up formatting in the OP makes it a little harder to understand; in an interview it would be laid out correctly.
DanBC 14y ago
> My thought process: Would you still think all of those with the diagram? 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 1 1 4 6 4 1 1 5 10 10 5 1
- malyk 14y ago
  This phrase: "...adding the two numbers to the right and left of it on the row above it..." Doesn't make a whole lot of sense. What is the "it"? row 1: is obviously easy. row 2: I think you are adding 0 to 1 and 1 to 0 to get 1 and 1 row 3: You are adding 0 + 1 for the first item, 1 + 1 for the second, and 1 + 0 for the third. row 4: You are adding 0 + 1 for the first number, 1 + 2 for the second...but the directions say "to the left AND right of it" which makes me think that the answer should be 4, not 3. 1 + 2 + 1. Really, you are only adding the number to the left of "it" (which still isn't clear). And actually, for the first half of the line you are adding the number to the left and for the second half of the line you are adding the number to the right. What you want: row 1: 0 + 1 row 2: 0 + 1, 1 + 0 row 3: 0 + 1, 1 + 1, 1 + 0 row 4: 0 + 1, 1 + 2, 2 + 1, 1 + 0 row 5: 0 + 1, 1 + 3, 3 + 3, 3 + 1, 1 + 0 row 6: 0 + 1, 1 + 4, 4 + 6, 6 + 4, 1 + 0 So I think your directions are probably confusing people. Of course, you still probably aren't going to increase your percentages much, but you could be clearer in what the problem actually is.
  - DanBC 14y ago
    Smart people suffer from analysis paralysis - that's why they suck at simple multiple choice questions. "But it could mean [...]" No, just take the obvious. > Each element in Pascal’s Triangle is found by adding the two numbers to the right and left of it on the row above it; where these don’t exist, they are assumed to be zero. Subject of the sentence: 'Each element' So, "adding two numbers to the right and left of it on the row above it" means "adding the two numbers to the above right and above left of an element." > So I think your directions are probably confusing people Not my directions! Still, this thread should be useful to OP. There are people who get the problem, and there are people who don't get the problem, and smartness isn't the deciding factor. (I'm stupid, and not a programmer, but I understood what the problem was and what the desired result would be. Other people are smarter than I am, and are programmers, but didn't seem to grok the question.)
    - malyk 14y ago
      Oops, didn't mean your directions but the OP's, of course. Just thought this thread was a good place for the answer and you had a nicely formatted pyramid. And, for the record, I'm a programmer, think I'm reasonably intelligent, and still not entirely sure I get the question based on the description. Language is tough sometimes.
  - dragos2 14y ago
    I don't understand why are people having troubles interpreting the text. P(i,j) = the number at i-th row and j-th column, could be defined as: P(i, j) = P(i-1, j-1) + P(i-1, j+1) - for the indented pyramid diagram or P(i, j) = P(i-1, j-1) + P(i-1, j) - for the non indented triangle (the way it would appear in a basic 2D data structure, eg: int P[][]). Also, you will have to check if P(i-1,j-1) exists.

by logn 14y ago

thejsjunky 14y ago

> I could interpret that in about many different ways If you look at the graphic that always comes with this question, there's only one way you could possibly interpret it. If you somehow misinterpret the text, you would know immediately when you test your mental model against the graphic. To be fair, the screwed up formatting in the OP makes it a little harder to understand; in an interview it would be laid out correctly.

DanBC 14y ago

> My thought process: Would you still think all of those with the diagram? 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 1 1 4 6 4 1 1 5 10 10 5 1

malyk 14y ago
This phrase: "...adding the two numbers to the right and left of it on the row above it..." Doesn't make a whole lot of sense. What is the "it"? row 1: is obviously easy. row 2: I think you are adding 0 to 1 and 1 to 0 to get 1 and 1 row 3: You are adding 0 + 1 for the first item, 1 + 1 for the second, and 1 + 0 for the third. row 4: You are adding 0 + 1 for the first number, 1 + 2 for the second...but the directions say "to the left AND right of it" which makes me think that the answer should be 4, not 3. 1 + 2 + 1. Really, you are only adding the number to the left of "it" (which still isn't clear). And actually, for the first half of the line you are adding the number to the left and for the second half of the line you are adding the number to the right. What you want: row 1: 0 + 1 row 2: 0 + 1, 1 + 0 row 3: 0 + 1, 1 + 1, 1 + 0 row 4: 0 + 1, 1 + 2, 2 + 1, 1 + 0 row 5: 0 + 1, 1 + 3, 3 + 3, 3 + 1, 1 + 0 row 6: 0 + 1, 1 + 4, 4 + 6, 6 + 4, 1 + 0 So I think your directions are probably confusing people. Of course, you still probably aren't going to increase your percentages much, but you could be clearer in what the problem actually is.
- DanBC 14y ago
  Smart people suffer from analysis paralysis - that's why they suck at simple multiple choice questions. "But it could mean [...]" No, just take the obvious. > Each element in Pascal’s Triangle is found by adding the two numbers to the right and left of it on the row above it; where these don’t exist, they are assumed to be zero. Subject of the sentence: 'Each element' So, "adding two numbers to the right and left of it on the row above it" means "adding the two numbers to the above right and above left of an element." > So I think your directions are probably confusing people Not my directions! Still, this thread should be useful to OP. There are people who get the problem, and there are people who don't get the problem, and smartness isn't the deciding factor. (I'm stupid, and not a programmer, but I understood what the problem was and what the desired result would be. Other people are smarter than I am, and are programmers, but didn't seem to grok the question.)
  - malyk 14y ago
    Oops, didn't mean your directions but the OP's, of course. Just thought this thread was a good place for the answer and you had a nicely formatted pyramid. And, for the record, I'm a programmer, think I'm reasonably intelligent, and still not entirely sure I get the question based on the description. Language is tough sometimes.
- dragos2 14y ago
  I don't understand why are people having troubles interpreting the text. P(i,j) = the number at i-th row and j-th column, could be defined as: P(i, j) = P(i-1, j-1) + P(i-1, j+1) - for the indented pyramid diagram or P(i, j) = P(i-1, j-1) + P(i-1, j) - for the non indented triangle (the way it would appear in a basic 2D data structure, eg: int P[][]). Also, you will have to check if P(i-1,j-1) exists.