Need help

I agree with gail. It starts out single, then double, then the last would be triple.

But it's ALL about thinking isn't it?

I agree with Olly that there's more than one rule possible. There's just as good an argument for 'ab' as an answer. Instead of reasoning that the number of a's and b's increases by one each time, you could just as well say that it doubles each time:

ab aabb aaaabbbb

All this thinking gives me a headache.

For that matter, couldn't you also say that you square the number of each letter and then add one more? That would give you 'aa' as the answer:
ab aabb aaaaabbbbb

Exactly what I was trying to prove...that I can think. At least that is what I thought I was trying to prove but now ....aaaaaaaaa...I really don't know if I did....bbbbbbbbecause there is an interview now...LOL

Thanks folks

CS

Good luck with the interview, and if it gets too tricky you can always slip on the ring which is in your pocket and escape

Let's see - a and b could stand for 0 and 1 in binary, so the sequence would start 0, 1, 0, 3, 0, ... so the next number would be 5 - 101 in binary, so bab.

Or they could be musical notes (does anyone know a tune that starts like this?)

Or... the fact is the number of possible interpretations for a given set of facts is limited only by the ingenuity of the mind doing the interpreting, so it could be just about anything!