Reasoning Ability and General Intelligence
Reasoning Ability and General Intelligence tests speed and pattern-spotting rather than mathematics: number and letter series, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, syllogism, seating arrangement, analogy, classification, ranking, calendar-clock and non-verbal items (mirror image, paper folding, embedded figures).
Working rules that save marks
- In number series, check differences first, then ratios, then squares and cubes plus or minus a constant.
- In coding-decoding, write the alphabet with positions 1-26 and test the shift on two letters before trusting the pattern.
- In syllogism, draw circles and accept only what is certainly true; never import real-world knowledge.
- In blood relations, draw a family tree and mark gender only where the statement proves it.
- In seating arrangement, fix the confirmed position first and re-check left and right from the facing direction.
Worked example
Series: 3, 8, 15, 24, 35, ? Reasoning: the differences are 5, 7, 9, 11 - an arithmetic progression rising by 2, so the next difference is 13 and the answer is 48. A second check confirms the pattern n squared minus 1: 4-1, 9-1, 16-1, 25-1, 36-1, 49-1. Answer: 48.
Traps
Assuming a mirror image when a rotation is asked; reading my mother's only son as someone other than the speaker; marking a sibling as brother when gender is unstated; treating a possibility statement in syllogism as a conclusion when only definiteness was asked; losing track of direction after a left-right reversal.