ABF Officer Recruit Cognify key terms

The amount a value rises or falls, divided by the original value and written as a percentage. It lets you compare changes in quantities of very different starting sizes.

A comparison of two quantities showing how many times one contains the other, written either as a pair of numbers such as 3:2 or as a fraction.

A statement that two ratios are equal, or the share of a whole that one part represents, usually expressed as a fraction or percentage of the total.

A rate given for a single unit of one quantity, found by dividing one quantity by the other, such as cost per item or kilometres per hour.

The arithmetic average, found by adding all the values and dividing by how many there are. It is pulled upward or downward by unusually large or small values.

An average in which each value counts in proportion to its importance or frequency: multiply each value by its weight, add the results, then divide by the total weight.

Producing a quick approximate answer by rounding figures to convenient values or using a simpler calculation, then judging whether the precise result is plausible.

The agreed sequence for evaluating a calculation: brackets first, then powers, then multiplication and division, then addition and subtraction, working left to right within each level.

A conclusion drawn from information that is suggested but not stated outright. A sound inference must follow from the text rather than from the reader's own opinion.

The central point a passage is written to convey, broad enough to cover the whole text rather than just one detail or example within it.

An unstated belief that an argument depends on. If the assumption is false the reasoning collapses, even though it was never written down explicitly.

The claim an argument is trying to establish, often signalled by words such as therefore or so, and supported by the other statements in the passage.

A word carrying the same, or very nearly the same, meaning as another word in a particular context, such as begin and start.

A word with the opposite meaning to another word, such as scarce and plentiful. Recognising opposites helps you spot contrast and shifts in a passage.

The attitude the writer takes towards the subject, such as critical, neutral or enthusiastic, revealed through word choice rather than stated directly.

A quality of wording that allows more than one reasonable interpretation, often because a word or phrase can be read in two different ways.

Imagining how a shape would look after being turned by a given angle, without physically moving the shape or turning the page.

The direction an object faces relative to a reference frame. Changing it means turning the object without altering its shape or size.

The result of flipping a shape across a line, producing a reversed copy that cannot be made to match the original by rotation alone.

The mental process of bending a flat two-dimensional pattern into the three-dimensional solid it would form, tracking which edges meet.

The ability to picture and manipulate shapes, positions and relationships in your mind, including imagining how objects look from a different angle.

The viewpoint or set of axes against which position and direction are judged. Changing it, such as adopting another observer's position, alters what appears left, right, up or down.

Systematically moving your eyes or attention across a display to locate a target, ideally in a fixed pattern so that no area is missed.

Spotting the specific item you have been asked to find among many others, often under time pressure and while ignoring similar-looking items.

An item in a display that looks similar to the target but is not the one you need, placed there to draw attention away from the correct answer.

The ability to keep concentrating on a repetitive task over time so that rare or brief targets are still noticed as the task continues.

The number of items a person can hold in mind and actively work with at once, typically only a handful before something is dropped.

Grouping separate items into fewer meaningful units, such as digits into a date, so that more information fits within a limited memory capacity.

Repeating information silently or aloud to keep it available in short-term memory and to move it towards longer-lasting storage.

The tendency of newly learned or similar information to disrupt what you are already holding in memory, causing recall errors.

Recall means producing information from memory with no prompt in front of you; recognition means simply identifying something as familiar when it is shown again.

The underlying pattern that generates successive items in a series, such as adding a fixed amount each time or alternately doubling and subtracting.

Working out the general rule that explains the examples you have been shown, then applying it to a new case you have not encountered before.

A comparison stating that two pairs of items relate in the same way, so the relationship visible in one pair can be used to complete the other.

An item in a set that fails to share a feature or rule satisfied by all the others, so it does not belong to the group.

The balance between answering quickly and answering correctly: rushing raises the number of mistakes, while checking everything costs time you may not have.

Deciding which tasks or items to handle first, usually by weighing how much they matter against how long they take to complete.

The average outcome of a choice if it were repeated many times, found by multiplying each possible result by its probability and adding them together.