Reasoning and Mental Ability
This paper measures how you spot patterns and follow rules, not what you have memorised. Recurring topics are number and letter series, coding–decoding, blood relations, direction sense, syllogism, order and ranking, seating arrangement, analogy and classification, and non-verbal items such as mirror images, paper folding and figure series.
Rules that solve most items
- Learn alphabet positions A = 1 to Z = 26, and the EJOTY anchors (E = 5, J = 10, O = 15, T = 20, Y = 25).
- In coding questions, first check the letter shift, then reversal, then position sums, before inventing a rule.
- In blood relations, draw a tree: vertical lines for generations, horizontal for siblings and marriage; mark male and female separately.
- In direction sense, fix a compass on paper, track each turn, and use Pythagoras for the shortest distance between start and end.
- In syllogism, a conclusion is valid only if it is true in every possible Venn diagram of the premises, including the ones where sets overlap.
Worked example
Find the next term: 7, 12, 19, 28, 39, ? Reasoning: take first differences - 12 − 7 = 5, 19 − 12 = 7, 28 − 19 = 9, 39 − 28 = 11. The differences are consecutive odd numbers, so the next difference is 13. Therefore the missing term is 39 + 13 = 52. If the first differences had not formed a clean pattern, the next step would be to check second differences.
Traps that cost marks
- Declaring a pattern from only two terms; always verify against a third and fourth term.
- In blood relations, forgetting that "my father's only son" is the speaker himself.
- In direction sense, confusing a left turn with a right turn after facing south.
- In syllogism, rejecting a conclusion that is only a possibility when the question asks what is definitely true.