Reasoning Ability
Question families
Reasoning Ability tests verbal and non-verbal reasoning: number and alphabet series, analogies, classification, coding–decoding, blood relations, direction sense, syllogism, seating and ranking puzzles, mathematical operations, and non-verbal items such as mirror images, embedded figures and paper folding. The section rewards pattern recognition and disciplined elimination rather than calculation.
Core rules
- Series: check differences first, then ratios, then alternating or second-order patterns; convert letters to positions (A=1 … Z=26).
- Coding: find the shift per letter and test both forward and backward shifts, including reverse-alphabet rules.
- Syllogism: draw minimal Venn diagrams; a conclusion is valid only if it holds in every diagram consistent with the premises.
- Blood relations: draw a family tree and mark gender explicitly; never infer gender from a name or role.
- Puzzles: fix the most constrained clue first, then eliminate.
Worked example
If TEACHER is coded as VGCEJGT, how is STUDENT coded? T→V, E→G, A→C, C→E: each letter moves two places forward. Applying the same rule: S→U, T→V, U→W, D→F, E→G, N→P, T→V, giving UVWFGPV. The shift is uniform, so no reversal or position-based rule is needed.
Traps
- Reversing the alphabet when the code uses a simple forward shift.
- In syllogism, mishandling 'some A are B' or conclusions involving 'only'.
- Ignoring the possibility of multiple valid arrangements in seating puzzles.
- Spending more than 60–90 seconds on a single puzzle instead of moving on.