Reasoning and General Intelligence
Reasoning and General Intelligence tests pattern recognition rather than memorised facts. The recurring types are number and letter series, coding–decoding, analogy, syllogism, blood relations, direction sense, seating arrangement and non-verbal figures.
Core methods
- Series: check differences, then ratios, then alternating or square/cube patterns; do not fixate on one rule.
- Coding: compare the same letter's position in the word and code to find a shift (+1, −2, reverse, or position-value sum).
- Syllogism: draw Venn diagrams; 'all A are B' does not convert to 'all B are A', but 'some A are B' does convert to 'some B are A'.
- Blood relations: rewrite statements as simple equations (father's father = grandfather) and never assume gender from a name.
- Direction: net displacement uses right-angled triangles; facing north, left is west, but facing south, left is east.
Worked example
Find the next term: 3, 7, 15, 31, ? The differences are 4, 8, 16-each doubles-so the next difference is 32 and the term is 31 + 32 = 63. Equivalently, each term = previous × 2 + 1: 3 × 2 + 1 = 7, 7 × 2 + 1 = 15, 15 × 2 + 1 = 31, 31 × 2 + 1 = 63.
Traps
Forcing arithmetic differences where a ratio applies; in seating, forgetting to invert left and right for south-facing rows; assuming 'some' means 'some not'; and checking rotation but not reflection in non-verbal series.