General Intelligence and Reasoning: Rules, Shortcuts and Traps
Core question types
General Intelligence and Reasoning in HSSC CET is a speed test covering series, analogies, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, syllogism, seating and non-verbal figures. Most questions are solvable in under a minute once the underlying rule is recognised.
Rules that pay
- Alphabet positions: A=1 through Z=26; reverse position = 27 − position. EJOTY (E=5, J=10, O=15, T=20, Y=25) gives quick anchors.
- Number series: check differences first, then ratios, then squares and cubes, then alternating patterns. For 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, the differences are 4, 6, 8, 10, so the next term is 42.
- Coding: identify whether letters shift by a constant, reverse order, or use position-based sums. Test the rule on the given word before applying it.
- Blood relations: draw a family tree; use + for male, − for female, vertical lines for generations, horizontal lines for siblings and spouse.
- Direction: fix a compass; right and left depend on the direction faced, not on the page.
- Syllogism: draw Venn diagrams; 'some' is reversible, 'all' is not.
Worked example
If 'ROSE' is coded as 'TQUG', how is 'LILY' coded? Each letter moves +2: R→T, O→Q, S→U, E→G. Apply the same shift: L→N, I→K, L→N, Y→A after wrapping past Z. Answer: NKNA. The wrap is the point of the question; Y+2 is not AA in a single-letter shift.
Traps
- Continuing a series with the wrong operation after matching only one term.
- Treating 'all A are B' as reversible; it gives 'some B are A', not 'all B are A'.
- In seating puzzles, ignoring 'facing north/south' and reversing left and right.
- In dice questions, assuming that visible adjacent faces can be opposite faces.