What comes next?

8, 20, 44, 92, ?

The correct option is 188.

To find the missing number in the sequence 8, 20, 44, 92, ?, let us analyze the pattern or relationship between consecutive terms.

Let us look at the differences between consecutive terms:

$20-8=12$

$44-20=24$

$92-44=48$

Notice that each difference is double the previous difference:

$12\times 2=24$

$24\times 2=48$

Following this pattern, the next difference to add to 92 should be double of 48:

$48\times 2=96$

Now, add 96 to the last term (92) to get the missing number:

$92+96=188$

Alternatively, we can observe another relation where each term is multiplied by 2 and then added to 4:

$8\times 2+4=16+4=20$

$20\times 2+4=40+4=44$

$44\times 2+4=88+4=92$

$92\times 2+4=184+4=188$

Both methods consistently lead to 188.