On this iteration of the Brain Health test, I guessed, or attempted to trust my intuition. The results text informs me that “my overall performance is within expectations for your age and education”.

I found the test very hard to do.

The hardest part was the facial recognition test. As the images loaded (I did not count them but there must have been at least fifty images) I become very conscious of the fact there was no way I was going to remember all of the face name pairs. I attempted to match a unique clothing detail with each name but, as more and more images loaded, this became an impossibility.

I became completely discouraged before the images fully loaded. My sense of the possibility of accurate accomplishment was zero. When the match portion of the test was presented, I gave up on certainty and guessed. The result was an extremely random process. I have no idea if the selected face name pair represented an actual match. I clicked blindly and moved on.

On the tracking test, it started well but after about three item pairs I found myself becoming confused over what was next. I had to review the prior sequence to determine if I was attempting to match a number, or a character, and which one was next in sequence. No guessing was required in this test.

On the shapes test, I again felt very uncomfortable with guessing. I used a process of elimination starting at top left and working my way methodically through the squares until I found a matching shape. I had some limited success in guessing the correct tile. I also felt very lost when my presumed correct location turned out to be an incorrect guess. By guessing I lost track of my position in my methodical search pattern. I then felt that abandoning my prior strategy was not a smart move and I should have avoided a guess.

I cannot remember the other tests.

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When I worked in marine search and rescue, a guess was not a valid option. An incorrect guess could be deadly for a fellow crew member, for yourself, or for the people you were attempting to rescue. Nobody wasted time guessing. If you didn’t know the answer it was your responsibility to bring the issue to the Captain, advise him of your perception of the situation, and the area of uncertainty. He then made the decision.

The same held true when I worked in Offshore safety. It was unacceptable to gamble the lives of 110 people, and a half billion dollar capital investment, on a hunch. Decisions needed to be evidence based and a great deal of time and effort went into the identification and collection of decision relevant information.

No decision was taken lightly. When a non-routine operation was to be undertaken, everybody gathered, everyone was informed of the operation plan, each member of the crew had the opportunity to voice concerns, raise questions, make alternate suggestions. Once the plan was set then everyone was expected to operate to the agreed plan, with any excursions from target outcomes being closely monitored and the information passed up the chain of command. When it was over, there was a tailgate meeting during which the entire operation was reviewed and performance critiqued so as to permit continued operational improvement.

And in the 12 years of working with Gargantua, there was no toleration for guessing. I spent time working in Quality Assurance where I monitored and coached the performance of other agents. If an agent guessed at a solution, then he did not have a solution. He was creating further problems for both the customer, and for Gargantua, if he did not provide clear and correct resolution of the customer’s issue.

I suspect this background may be why I find it difficult to guess at an answer. When I guessed on this iteration of the test, it felt completely random and unnatural. And when it came time once again to search for shapes hidden beneath the coloured tiles, I adopted a methodical search process. That was how I was trained to search. To make sure each location was examined. To ensure no possibility of leaving a victim unfound.

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A prior post with the results of the first attempt at this test is found here.
The online test may be found at this link.