Nonverbal Reasoning: Figure Matrices, Paper Folding, and Figure Classification
The Nonverbal Reasoning battery measures reasoning with shapes, positions, and spatial patterns rather than words or numbers. At Kindergarten the teacher reads the directions, but the problem information is visual, and the child answers by choosing a picture. The battery contains three subtests: Figure Matrices, Paper Folding, and Figure Classification. These tasks reward careful looking and rule-finding, not guessing by overall appearance.
Core rules
- Figure Matrices: A 2×2 grid follows a rule across each row and down each column. Name what changes - shape, size, color or fill, orientation, number, or position - and what stays the same. The missing cell must satisfy both the row rule and the column rule.
- Paper Folding: A sheet is folded, holes are punched, and the unfolded sheet is shown in the choices. Each punch goes through every layer, so one punch can make several holes. Holes mirror across a fold line, and their distance from the fold is preserved.
- Figure Classification: Three figures share a rule; choose the fourth that belongs. The rule can be the number of sides, symmetry, fill, orientation, size, or shape family - not just color.
Worked example
Top row: small red circle, then large red circle. Bottom row: small blue square, then ___. The row rule is “small becomes large while color and shape stay the same.” The column rule keeps the shape from the left cell. The answer is a large blue square. A large red square is wrong because it changes the color; a small blue square repeats the first cell instead of applying the size change.
Traps that cost marks
- Matching the overall look of one figure instead of stating the rule.
- In Paper Folding, counting only the visible holes and forgetting that every layer is punched.
- Placing unfolded holes on the wrong side of the fold line instead of mirroring them.
- In classification, choosing an item that shares one feature such as color but violates the group rule.
- Changing two attributes when the matrix rule changes only one.