Reasoning and Logical Analysis
Reasoning and Logical Analysis rewards process rather than memory. Every question has a rule that is discoverable inside the question itself; the marks go to the candidate who writes the rule down instead of guessing the answer by feel.
The question families you will meet
- Series (number, alphabet, mixed): test the first difference, and if it is irregular, test the second difference or a product/square pattern.
- Coding–decoding: letter-shift codes, positional-value codes, and word-rearrangement codes.
- Syllogism: solve by Venn diagram. 'Some A are B' never supports a universal conclusion.
- Seating and puzzles: fix the anchor clue first, then fill the remaining seats in one direction at a time.
- Blood relations and direction sense: draw a family tree; for displacement, take net east–west and north–south, then apply Pythagoras.
- Non-verbal: mirror image vs water image, paper folding, embedded figures, figure series, counting triangles.
Worked example
In a row of 40 students, A is 11th from the left and B is 15th from the right. How many students sit between them? Reasoning: A's position from the right = 40 − 11 + 1 = 30. B's position from the left = 40 − 15 + 1 = 26. A is at 11, B at 26 from the same end, so the gap = 26 − 11 − 1 = 14. Answer: 14.
Traps
Counting the two named people inside the 'between' gap. Assuming an alphabet series simply reverses. Ignoring the 'either-or' form of a syllogism conclusion. Confusing a mirror image (left–right flip) with a water image (top–bottom flip). Treating two clues as independent when the second only works after the first is fixed.