Logical Reasoning and Analytical Ability
Logical Reasoning tests pattern-spotting and clean deduction under time pressure: series, analogies, coding–decoding, syllogisms, seating arrangements, blood relations and direction sense.
Rules that carry most items
- Series: check differences first, then ratios, then alternating (two interleaved) patterns, then squares or cubes ± a constant.
- Coding–decoding: note the shift direction and size, letter reversal, or position-based rules.
- Syllogism: draw Venn diagrams. "All A are B" does not give "all B are A"; "some A are B" leaves "some A are not B" undecided.
- Seating: fix one person, then place the rest relative to that anchor. In a circle, "left" depends on whether people face inward or outward.
- Blood relations: draw a family tree with gender marked, and add only the relations the question states.
- Direction sense: sketch north-up axes; net displacement uses Pythagoras.
Worked example
Find the next term: 3, 8, 15, 24, ? Differences are 5, 7, 9 - increasing by 2, so the next difference is 11, giving 35. Independently, each term is n² − 1 for n = 2, 3, 4, 5, so the next is 6² − 1 = 35. Two routes agreeing is a useful check.
Traps
- Committing to a pattern after seeing only two terms.
- Reading "some" as "some but not all" in syllogisms.
- Ignoring facing direction in circular seating.
- Solving for the wrong person when the question asks about, say, the uncle's relation to the mother.