if the light is cold it could mean the bulb is burned out

“Turn on the first switch and leave it on for a few minutes.” → you forgot to say “and then turn it off.”

A better solution would be to:
1. Turn on switch #1. Leave it on for a few minutes. Then turn it off.
2. Turn on switch #2 and run upstairs to the attic.

Now, there are three possible outcomes:
1. The light is on. Therefore, switch #2 controls the lamp.
2. The light is off, but warm. Switch #1 is correct because you let it heat the lamp but then switched it off.
3. The light is off and cold. Switch #3 is correct because you never touched it, so the light never turned on.

I went to the attic first to open the door so I could see which switch turned on the light while I was flipping them…

Where are the other lights? I mean what do the other switches connect to? If you are downstairs and you flip one switch and the fan comes on and the second turns on the porch light, then the third is the attic.

The question states that only ONE switch controls the attic… So the warm lamp part doesn’t make sense, does it?

Here’s what I tought:
1) turn first switchon , if the light goes on, it’s the first one, else goto 2
2) turn second switch on, if the light goes on, it’s the second one, else goto 3
3) it’s the third one

So… where I am wrong? :)