Pattern Recognition
📋 What it is
A pattern is a repeating rule; finding the rule lets you predict what comes next.
🗣️ Coach says
Many riddles hide a sequence. The trick is never to guess the next item — find the RULE. In 1, 2, 4, 7, 11 the jumps grow by 1 each time (+1, +2, +3, +4). Name the rule and the next term is certain.
🧠 Memory hook
Don’t guess the next item — find the RULE, then apply it.
😲 Whoa!
Your brain loves patterns so much it sees them where none exist (faces in clouds) — which is exactly why checking the rule matters before you trust it.
✅ Quick check: What comes next in 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, ___ — and what’s the rule?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
16 — the gaps grow +1, +2, +3, +4, +5; 11 + 5 = 16.
Naming the growing-gap rule makes the next term certain.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Make a sequence with a growing gap and challenge a friend to find the RULE, not just the next number.