Reasoning Ability
Reasoning Ability tests how you derive a unique answer from constraints rather than recall facts. For the BoB Office Assistant paper, expect puzzles and seating arrangements, syllogisms, blood relations, direction sense, coding-decoding, inequalities, and series-based reasoning. Treat every question as a constraint-satisfaction problem.
Core rules
- Syllogism: draw minimal Venn diagrams; a conclusion is valid only if it holds in every diagram satisfying the statements. “Some A are B” does not imply “Some B are not A.”
- Blood relations: convert phrases into a family tree with +/− generation levels; do not assume gender from a name.
- Direction sense: track net displacement using north/south and east/west components; left/right turns depend on facing direction.
- Arrangements: fix the most constrained person/object first; mark fixed and excluded positions.
- Coding-decoding: test letter shifts, reversals, and position-based patterns separately.
Worked example
“In a certain code, BANK is written as CBOL. How is LOAN written?” Compare positions: B→C (+1), A→B (+1), N→O (+1), K→L (+1). Apply the same shift to L-O-A-N: L→M, O→P, A→B, N→O, giving MPBO. Check that no wrap-around or reversal is needed; if a letter is Z, it would become A.
Traps
Assuming a possible conclusion is definite; ignoring “only a few” or “no” in syllogisms; reversing subject and object in blood relations; forgetting that in circular arrangements facing inward, left is clockwise; choosing an answer that satisfies one condition but violates another.