Spotting the Patterns

Pattern: a combination of qualities, acts, tendencies, etc., forming a consistent or characteristic arrangement[1]

Our UDACITY lessons say that pattern recognition can play a big role in identifying opportunities[2]. We exercised this pattern recognition skill when forming groups in class. The UDACITY lesson also claimed that individuals could be trained to be more proficient at identifying opportunities through practice and knowledge[3]. This reminded me of a few games that may be of use for building pattern recognition skills.

 

The first game that came to mind was Set. In this game, 12 cards from a deck of 81 are drawn and placed face up. The player(s) must identify sets of cards where each feature is either all the same or all different. Features include colors (red, purple, green), shape (oval, squiggle, diamond), amount (one, two, three), and shading (solid, striped, outlined). Try playing it here: https://puzzles.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm

Can you find all the sets in this picture?

 

The next game that came to mind was a once popular smart phone app called 4 Pics 1 Word. In this game, the player is given four completely different pictures that can all be described with a common word. This is a free app that can be found at the Google Play and Apple stores.

 

 

There are many ways to exercise conceptual, visual, analytical, etc. pattern recognition skills. A few other examples of different forms of pattern recognition problems can be found here: https://brilliant.org/wiki/pattern-recognition-visual-easy-2/

 

***As a disclaimer, I am not qualified to say whether these games will actually strengthen one’s ability to recognize patterns, but they are what came to mind when the UDACITY lesson mentioned building these skills through practice and knowledge.***

 

~ Jennifer

 

[1] Pattern. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/pattern

[2] How to Build a Startup. (n.d.). Lecture. Retrieved February 11, 2018, from https://classroom.udacity.com/me

[3] Ibid.