Reasoning and Mental Ability
What this domain tests
Verbal and non-verbal reasoning: series, analogy, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, ranking, syllogism, seating arrangement, dice and cubes, mirror and water images.
Core rules
- Number series: test difference, then ratio, then squares and cubes, then alternating patterns.
- Letter series: write A–Z with positions 1–26; the word EJOTY gives 5, 10, 15, 20, 25.
- Coding: test constant shift (+1, +2, −1), reversal of letters, and letter-to-position values.
- Direction: draw a small compass and mark every turn; net displacement uses Pythagoras.
- Syllogism: a conclusion is valid only if it holds in every possible Venn diagram.
Worked example
If FRIEND is written as HTKGPF, how is CANDLE written? Reasoning: F becomes H, R becomes T, I becomes K, so each letter moves two places forward. Apply the same shift: C→E, A→C, N→P, D→F, L→N, E→G, giving ECPFNG. Check one letter backwards to confirm the rule before writing the answer.
Traps
- Assuming gender in blood-relation questions; a sibling may be a brother or a sister.
- Treating all A are B as reversible - it does not imply all B are A.
- Mirror image reverses left-right, water image reverses top-bottom; for a clock in a mirror use 11:60 minus the time.
- In ranking totals, avoid counting the same person twice.
- In seating puzzles, fix the facing direction before placing anyone.