CogAT Form 7 cheat sheet

Verbal Analogies (Picture/Verbal): the relationship between the first pair must be stated as a precise rule (e.g., 'is the young of', 'is the tool for', 'is the opposite of') before choosing the matching pair.

Analogies test the same relationship in the same direction: A is to B as C is to D. Distractors usually reverse the direction or shift the category (part-to-whole vs. whole-to-part).

Sentence Completion: the blank's part of speech and the sentence's logic words (although, because, therefore, not) determine the answer; a word that fits grammatically but reverses the logic is wrong.

Verbal Classification: three of four words share a tight category; the odd one out is excluded by one property (e.g., all are mammals except the reptile, or all are vehicles except the non-motorized one).

Picture Analogies and Picture Classification use the same rules at the picture level for younger levels; name the category aloud (fruit, animal, tool, vehicle) to check membership.

Verbal Classification distractors often fit a looser superordinate category; the correct answer must share the most specific category with the other three.

Sentence Completion answers must fit both meaning and register: a word can be semantically plausible but grammatically impossible (wrong number, tense, or part of speech).

On the Verbal Battery, the three item types are Verbal Analogies, Sentence Completion, and Verbal Classification; Picture Analogies and Picture Classification appear at primary levels.

Number Analogies: extract the arithmetic rule from the first pair (add, subtract, multiply, divide, square, or a two-step rule) and apply the identical rule to the third number.

Number Series: compute first differences; if constant, the rule is arithmetic. If differences themselves form a pattern (increasing by 1, doubling), the rule is second-order. Check alternating positions for interleaved sequences.

Number Puzzles: the missing value satisfies the same equation as the given examples; solve the equation algebraically rather than guessing, then verify by substitution.

Quantitative Comparison (older levels): compare the two quantities without computing exact values where possible; a common trap is assuming a variable is positive when it may be zero or negative.

Number Series can use multiplicative rules (×2, ×3) or mixed rules (+3, ×2, +3, ×2); identify the cycle length before predicting the next term.

Number Analogies distractors are generated by applying the wrong operation (e.g., adding when the rule was multiplying); recheck the operation on the first pair.

Percent, ratio, and average items on the Quantitative Battery reward setting up a proportion or equation; label units to avoid mismatching part-to-whole.

Estimation is a valid strategy: eliminate answers by order of magnitude before computing exactly.

Figure Analogies: the transformation between the first pair (rotation, reflection, size change, shading change, added/removed element) must be applied identically to the third figure.

Figure Classification: three figures share an invariant property (number of sides, symmetry, open vs. closed, number of enclosed regions, shading pattern); the fourth lacks it.

Paper Folding: unfold in reverse order of the folds; each unfold mirrors the hole pattern across the fold line, doubling the holes per fold.

Figure Classification invariants are often count-based (sides, vertices, line segments) rather than shape-identity based; count before judging appearance.

Figure Analogies distractors apply the correct transformation to the wrong figure, or the wrong transformation to the correct figure; verify both the object and the operation.

Paper Folding answers differ by hole count, position, or symmetry; the correct pattern is always symmetric about every fold line used.

Rotation preserves orientation (chirality); reflection reverses it. A figure that looks rotated but is actually mirrored is a distractor in Figure Analogies.

Nonverbal items use no reading; the only information is the visual property, so state the rule in words (e.g., 'shading inverts and the figure rotates 90° clockwise') before choosing.