Problem Solving and Analytical Reasoning
What is tested
Structured reasoning under time pressure: deductive validity, conditional logic, sequencing and grouping puzzles, and quantitative problems expressed in words. The exam rewards a disciplined method more than raw speed, because most errors come from misreading the rule rather than from the difficulty of the reasoning.
Core tools
Translate every conditional into an explicit form. "If P then Q" licenses the contrapositive (not Q, therefore not P) but not the converse (Q, therefore P) or the inverse (not P, therefore not Q). "Only if" reverses the direction: "P only if Q" means P implies Q. "Unless" means "if not", so "P unless Q" means not Q implies P. For ordering problems, draw a line and fix anchors; for grouping, build a grid and mark exclusions. For word problems, write the equation before computing, and check units and the question asked (total versus difference, per unit versus aggregate).
Traps
Watch for: a rule that applies to some but not all of the group; a question asking what must be true when one option merely could be; answer choices that restate a premise rather than the conclusion; percentages of different bases; and averages that conceal distribution. In "must be true" questions, a single valid counterexample eliminates an option.
Rule of thumb
For any conditional, ask: what does this rule forbid? The forbidden combination is usually what the question tests. Test each option against the forbidden case rather than re-deriving the whole system.
Worked example
"All trainees who pass the ethics module may sit the interview. Alex may sit the interview." Nothing follows about Alex passing the module - that is affirming the consequent. If instead we are told Alex may not sit the interview, we can conclude Alex did not pass the module, by valid contrapositive reasoning.
Checking
Before selecting, restate the question in your own words. Many wrong answers are correct deductions answering a different question.