Reasoning Ability
Reasoning Ability in OICL AO tests how quickly you convert clues into a fixed arrangement or a valid conclusion. The objective paper draws on puzzles and seating, syllogism, inequality, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, input-output and data sufficiency.
Rules that decide marks
- In arrangements, place definite clues first (fixed row, given month, exact floor). Keep a table and mark eliminated options; do not start with a clue that creates three cases.
- In syllogism, draw minimal overlapping Venn diagrams and test each conclusion. Some A are B does not mean some A are not B; only a few means both some and some-not.
- In inequality, decode each symbol, combine only chains facing the same way, and check the conclusion in both directions.
- In coding, check letter positions, reverse alphabet, and shift patterns before assuming a word code.
Worked example
Statements: All insurers are risk-takers. Some risk-takers are actuaries. Conclusions: I. Some insurers are actuaries. II. Some risk-takers are insurers. Reasoning: All insurers are risk-takers converts to Some risk-takers are insurers, so II is definite. The actuaries who are risk-takers need not overlap with insurers, so I is only a possibility, not a conclusion. Answer: only II follows.
Traps
Treating a possibility as a definite conclusion; ignoring either-or cases; in puzzles, adding an unstated assumption to force a unique solution; in inequalities, missing not or reversing the chain.