Reasoning and Logical Thinking
Reasoning and Logical Thinking checks speed and precision on patterns rather than syllabus knowledge. Question families recur: series, analogies, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, syllogism, seating and ranking, clocks and calendars, cubes and dice, and non-verbal figures such as mirror images, embedded figures and paper folding.
Core rules
- Series: check differences, then ratios, then alternating and square/cube patterns; for letter series convert to positions (A=1 to Z=26).
- Coding: write the alphabet forward, note the constant shift (+3, -2), and test reversal or position-sum rules if a constant shift fails.
- Blood relations: draw a small family tree, mark male and female symbols, and never solve it in the head.
- Direction: sketch the path; the answer is usually net displacement, and left and right flip when a person turns to face south.
- Syllogism: draw Venn diagrams; 'some A are B' is reversible, 'all A are B' is not.
- Cubes and calendars: a painted cube cut into n-cubed smaller cubes has 8 corner cubes with three painted faces; odd-day counting handles calendar questions.
Worked example
If MOUSE is written as PRXVH, how is SHIRT written? Each letter moves three places forward: M to P, O to R, U to X, S to V, E to H. Applying the same shift, S to V, H to K, I to L, R to U, T to W, giving VKLUW.
Traps
Do not read either/or conclusions loosely in syllogism, do not confuse the direction faced with the direction moved, and do not assume an analogy rule without testing it on the second pair. In non-verbal items, check whether the figure is mirrored or rotated - the two look alike under time pressure, and rotation preserves the shape while mirroring reverses it.