Select the number from among the given options that can replace the question mark (?) in the following series.
$$14,158,258,322,?,374$$

Let's check the differences between consecutive terms:$158-14=144=12^2$$258-158=100=10^2$$322-258=64=8^2$ The differences are the squares of consecutive decreasing even numbers ($12^2,10^2,8^2,\dots$).Following this sequence, the next difference should be $6^2=36$.$?=322+36=358$ Let's double-check the final step with $4^2=16$:$358+16=374$ (which matches the last term perfectly).