Analogy completion between figure pairs (A is to B as C is to ?)
What this domain tests
The item states a relation between figure A and figure B, then gives figure C and asks for the figure that stands to C as B stands to A. The test is precision: identifying the exact transformation, including its direction and magnitude, and applying it to the correct starting figure.
Procedure
- Describe A and B attribute by attribute and state precisely what changed.
- Write the change as a rule with parameters: rotates 90 degrees clockwise, gains two sides, inner and outer shapes swap, fill inverts.
- Apply the rule to C, not to A or B.
- Verify the candidate answer by reversing the rule from the answer back to C.
Common relation families
- Transformation: rotation, reflection, scaling, translation.
- Element arithmetic: one shape added or removed; sides plus one; dots doubled.
- Structural: inner and outer shapes exchange roles; open outline becomes closed.
- Stylistic: solid becomes outlined; shading moves from the small shape to the large one.
- Compound: two changes at once, both of which must appear in the answer.
Worked example
A is a large circle containing a small black square. B is a large square containing a small black circle. The rule is that the two shapes exchange positions, inner becoming outer and outer becoming inner, while the black fill stays with the inner shape regardless of which shape it is. C is a large triangle containing a small white pentagon. Applying the rule gives a large pentagon containing a small white triangle. A distractor shows a large pentagon with a black triangle, which transfers the fill to the triangle instead of leaving it on the inner shape; another shows a small pentagon inside a large triangle with no exchange at all.
Traps that cost marks
- Applying the inverse relation, from B to A instead of from A to B.
- Copying the appearance of B rather than the relation between A and B.
- Transferring the wrong attribute: swapping shape but not fill, or reversing which element keeps the shading.
- Missing the second component of a compound rule.
- Forgetting that the rule may involve magnitude, such as a 90-degree turn becoming a 180-degree turn when C is larger.