Kazakhstan Master's CT cheat sheet

Definition-first rule: before applying any method, state the object, the given conditions, and the target quantity; most specialty errors in CT items come from misread scope, not weak computation.

Classification questions: check the defining criterion (composition, function, origin, structure) before choosing a category; a single differing criterion moves the item to a different class.

Cause vs. condition vs. result: causes generate the phenomenon, conditions enable it, results follow from it; exam distractors routinely swap these three labels.

Quantitative items: write the governing relation symbolically, substitute with consistent units, and sanity-check the order of magnitude before selecting an option.

Comparative items (A vs. B): compare on one criterion at a time; multi-criterion comparison without ranking criteria produces the wrong option.

Terminology precision: prefer the term whose definition matches the stem exactly; near-synonyms in the specialty lexicon usually differ in one technical feature.

Law/principle statements: verify subject, scope of application, and exceptions; a true statement about the wrong object is the most common trap.

Process items: order stages by dependency (input → transformation → output → regulation), not by memorized list order, and reject options that skip a mandatory stage.

Didactic triad: teaching (activity of the teacher), learning (activity of the learner), and education/content (what is transmitted) are distinct; items often misattribute a learner process to the teacher.

Learning theories: behaviorism = stimulus–response–reinforcement; cognitivism = information processing and schemas; constructivism = knowledge built from prior experience; activity theory = internalization via external activity.

Psychology of age: each stage has a leading activity (play in preschool, learning in school age, communication in adolescence, work in adulthood); leading activity determines the developmental new formation.

Zones of development: actual level (independent performance) vs. proximal level (performance with support); instruction is effective when aimed at the proximal zone.

Memory: sensory → short-term (limited capacity, ~7±2 units) → long-term; retention improves with meaningful encoding, spaced repetition, and retrieval practice.

Motivation: intrinsic (interest, competence) vs. extrinsic (grades, rewards); over-reliance on extrinsic reward can reduce intrinsic motivation.

Assessment rules: formative assessment feeds instruction, summative assessment certifies outcomes; validity (measures the intended construct) and reliability (consistency) are separate properties.

Upbringing styles: authoritative (high demand + high warmth) is associated with the most adaptive outcomes; authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful are the contrasting types.

Kazakh is agglutinative: grammatical meaning is carried by suffixes added in fixed order (root + derivation + number + case + possessive + predicate), so parse from the root outward.

Kazakh vowel harmony: front vowels (ә, е, і, ө, ү) take front suffixes; back vowels (а, о, ұ, ы, у) take back suffixes; labial harmony further constrains rounded vowels.

Kazakh plural suffixes: -лар/-лер/-дар/-дер/-тар/-тер, chosen by the final sound of the stem (voiceless → -тар/-тер, nasal/liquid → -дар/-дер).

Kazakh case system: nominative, genitive (-ның/-нің/-дың/-дің/-тың/-тің), dative (-ға/-ге/-қа/-ке), accusative (-ны/-ні/-ды/-ді/-ты/-ті), locative (-да/-де/-та/-те), ablative (-дан/-ден/-тан/-тен).

Russian noun gender is predictable from the nominative ending: masculine (consonant, -й, -ь), feminine (-а/-я/-ь), neuter (-о/-е); -ь words require memorized gender.

Russian verb aspect: imperfective = process, repetition, ongoing action; perfective = completed, single result; aspect choice, not tense, carries completion meaning.

Russian case governance: prepositions fix case (в/на + prepositional for location, + accusative for direction; с + instrumental for instrument; без + genitive).

Orthography decision rule: distinguish spelling determined by morphology (same morpheme, same spelling) from spelling determined by phonetics (voicing assimilation, unstressed vowel reduction).

Reading strategy: match the question type to the text - detail questions locate a paraphrase, inference questions require a conclusion not stated verbatim, main-idea questions require the whole passage.

Distractor patterns in reading: true-but-not-asked, overgeneralization (all/always/never), reversal of cause and effect, and out-of-scope comparison.

English conditionals: zero (fact), first (real future), second (unreal present), third (unreal past); mixed conditionals combine past condition with present result.

English tense contrast: present perfect links past action to present relevance; past simple closes the action in the past; signal words (since, for, ago, yesterday) usually decide.

German word order: verb second in main clauses, verb final in subordinate clauses introduced by dass/weil/wenn, and infinitive or participle at the end of the bracket.

German case after prepositions: accusative (durch, für, gegen, ohne, um), dative (aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu), two-way prepositions take accusative for motion and dative for location.

French agreement: the past participle with avoir agrees only with a preceding direct object; with être it agrees with the subject.

Cloze/error items: test the sentence for one grammatical feature at a time (agreement, tense, preposition, article) rather than reading for overall meaning.

Validity test for categorical syllogisms: a form is valid only if no counterexample exists with true premises and a false conclusion; validity concerns form, truth concerns content.

Distribution rules: in a valid categorical syllogism the middle term must be distributed at least once, and no term may be distributed in the conclusion unless distributed in a premise.

Implication: A → B is false only when A is true and B is false; its contrapositive ¬B → ¬A is equivalent, while its converse B → A is not.

Quantifier negation: ¬(∀x P(x)) ≡ ∃x ¬P(x) and ¬(∃x P(x)) ≡ ∀x ¬P(x); negation flips the quantifier and negates the predicate.

Fallacies to identify: affirming the consequent, denying the antecedent, ad hominem, straw man, false dilemma, circular reasoning, hasty generalization.

Hypothesis types: null (no effect) vs. alternative (effect exists); a Type I error rejects a true null, a Type II error fails to reject a false null.

Sampling logic: probability sampling (random, stratified, cluster) supports generalization; convenience and purposive sampling do not license statistical generalization.

Research design order: problem → research question → hypothesis → methods and sample → data collection → analysis → interpretation → limitations; skipping the question stage invalidates the design.

Definition-first rule: before applying any method, state the object, the given conditions, and the target quantity; most specialty errors in CT items come from misread scope, not weak computation.

Classification questions: check the defining criterion (composition, function, origin, structure) before choosing a category; a single differing criterion moves the item to a different class.

Cause vs. condition vs. result: causes generate the phenomenon, conditions enable it, results follow from it; exam distractors routinely swap these three labels.

Quantitative items: write the governing relation symbolically, substitute with consistent units, and sanity-check the order of magnitude before selecting an option.

Comparative items (A vs. B): compare on one criterion at a time; multi-criterion comparison without ranking criteria produces the wrong option.

Terminology precision: prefer the term whose definition matches the stem exactly; near-synonyms in the specialty lexicon usually differ in one technical feature.

Law/principle statements: verify subject, scope of application, and exceptions; a true statement about the wrong object is the most common trap.

Process items: order stages by dependency (input → transformation → output → regulation), not by memorized list order, and reject options that skip a mandatory stage.

Didactic triad: teaching (activity of the teacher), learning (activity of the learner), and education/content (what is transmitted) are distinct; items often misattribute a learner process to the teacher.

Learning theories: behaviorism = stimulus–response–reinforcement; cognitivism = information processing and schemas; constructivism = knowledge built from prior experience; activity theory = internalization via external activity.

Psychology of age: each stage has a leading activity (play in preschool, learning in school age, communication in adolescence, work in adulthood); leading activity determines the developmental new formation.

Zones of development: actual level (independent performance) vs. proximal level (performance with support); instruction is effective when aimed at the proximal zone.

Memory: sensory → short-term (limited capacity, ~7±2 units) → long-term; retention improves with meaningful encoding, spaced repetition, and retrieval practice.

Motivation: intrinsic (interest, competence) vs. extrinsic (grades, rewards); over-reliance on extrinsic reward can reduce intrinsic motivation.

Assessment rules: formative assessment feeds instruction, summative assessment certifies outcomes; validity (measures the intended construct) and reliability (consistency) are separate properties.

Upbringing styles: authoritative (high demand + high warmth) is associated with the most adaptive outcomes; authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful are the contrasting types.

Kazakh is agglutinative: grammatical meaning is carried by suffixes added in fixed order (root + derivation + number + case + possessive + predicate), so parse from the root outward.

Kazakh vowel harmony: front vowels (ә, е, і, ө, ү) take front suffixes; back vowels (а, о, ұ, ы, у) take back suffixes; labial harmony further constrains rounded vowels.

Kazakh plural suffixes: -лар/-лер/-дар/-дер/-тар/-тер, chosen by the final sound of the stem (voiceless → -тар/-тер, nasal/liquid → -дар/-дер).

Kazakh case system: nominative, genitive (-ның/-нің/-дың/-дің/-тың/-тің), dative (-ға/-ге/-қа/-ке), accusative (-ны/-ні/-ды/-ді/-ты/-ті), locative (-да/-де/-та/-те), ablative (-дан/-ден/-тан/-тен).

Russian noun gender is predictable from the nominative ending: masculine (consonant, -й, -ь), feminine (-а/-я/-ь), neuter (-о/-е); -ь words require memorized gender.

Russian verb aspect: imperfective = process, repetition, ongoing action; perfective = completed, single result; aspect choice, not tense, carries completion meaning.

Russian case governance: prepositions fix case (в/на + prepositional for location, + accusative for direction; с + instrumental for instrument; без + genitive).

Orthography decision rule: distinguish spelling determined by morphology (same morpheme, same spelling) from spelling determined by phonetics (voicing assimilation, unstressed vowel reduction).

Reading strategy: match the question type to the text - detail questions locate a paraphrase, inference questions require a conclusion not stated verbatim, main-idea questions require the whole passage.

Distractor patterns in reading: true-but-not-asked, overgeneralization (all/always/never), reversal of cause and effect, and out-of-scope comparison.

English conditionals: zero (fact), first (real future), second (unreal present), third (unreal past); mixed conditionals combine past condition with present result.

English tense contrast: present perfect links past action to present relevance; past simple closes the action in the past; signal words (since, for, ago, yesterday) usually decide.

German word order: verb second in main clauses, verb final in subordinate clauses introduced by dass/weil/wenn, and infinitive or participle at the end of the bracket.

German case after prepositions: accusative (durch, für, gegen, ohne, um), dative (aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu), two-way prepositions take accusative for motion and dative for location.

French agreement: the past participle with avoir agrees only with a preceding direct object; with être it agrees with the subject.

Cloze/error items: test the sentence for one grammatical feature at a time (agreement, tense, preposition, article) rather than reading for overall meaning.

Validity test for categorical syllogisms: a form is valid only if no counterexample exists with true premises and a false conclusion; validity concerns form, truth concerns content.

Distribution rules: in a valid categorical syllogism the middle term must be distributed at least once, and no term may be distributed in the conclusion unless distributed in a premise.

Implication: A → B is false only when A is true and B is false; its contrapositive ¬B → ¬A is equivalent, while its converse B → A is not.

Quantifier negation: ¬(∀x P(x)) ≡ ∃x ¬P(x) and ¬(∃x P(x)) ≡ ∀x ¬P(x); negation flips the quantifier and negates the predicate.

Fallacies to identify: affirming the consequent, denying the antecedent, ad hominem, straw man, false dilemma, circular reasoning, hasty generalization.

Hypothesis types: null (no effect) vs. alternative (effect exists); a Type I error rejects a true null, a Type II error fails to reject a false null.

Sampling logic: probability sampling (random, stratified, cluster) supports generalization; convenience and purposive sampling do not license statistical generalization.

Research design order: problem → research question → hypothesis → methods and sample → data collection → analysis → interpretation → limitations; skipping the question stage invalidates the design.

Definition-first rule: before applying any method, state the object, the given conditions, and the target quantity; most specialty errors in CT items come from misread scope, not weak computation.

Classification questions: check the defining criterion (composition, function, origin, structure) before choosing a category; a single differing criterion moves the item to a different class.

Cause vs. condition vs. result: causes generate the phenomenon, conditions enable it, results follow from it; exam distractors routinely swap these three labels.

Quantitative items: write the governing relation symbolically, substitute with consistent units, and sanity-check the order of magnitude before selecting an option.

Comparative items (A vs. B): compare on one criterion at a time; multi-criterion comparison without ranking criteria produces the wrong option.

Terminology precision: prefer the term whose definition matches the stem exactly; near-synonyms in the specialty lexicon usually differ in one technical feature.

Law/principle statements: verify subject, scope of application, and exceptions; a true statement about the wrong object is the most common trap.

Process items: order stages by dependency (input → transformation → output → regulation), not by memorized list order, and reject options that skip a mandatory stage.

Didactic triad: teaching (activity of the teacher), learning (activity of the learner), and education/content (what is transmitted) are distinct; items often misattribute a learner process to the teacher.

Learning theories: behaviorism = stimulus–response–reinforcement; cognitivism = information processing and schemas; constructivism = knowledge built from prior experience; activity theory = internalization via external activity.

Psychology of age: each stage has a leading activity (play in preschool, learning in school age, communication in adolescence, work in adulthood); leading activity determines the developmental new formation.

Zones of development: actual level (independent performance) vs. proximal level (performance with support); instruction is effective when aimed at the proximal zone.

Memory: sensory → short-term (limited capacity, ~7±2 units) → long-term; retention improves with meaningful encoding, spaced repetition, and retrieval practice.

Motivation: intrinsic (interest, competence) vs. extrinsic (grades, rewards); over-reliance on extrinsic reward can reduce intrinsic motivation.

Assessment rules: formative assessment feeds instruction, summative assessment certifies outcomes; validity (measures the intended construct) and reliability (consistency) are separate properties.

Upbringing styles: authoritative (high demand + high warmth) is associated with the most adaptive outcomes; authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful are the contrasting types.

Kazakh is agglutinative: grammatical meaning is carried by suffixes added in fixed order (root + derivation + number + case + possessive + predicate), so parse from the root outward.

Kazakh vowel harmony: front vowels (ә, е, і, ө, ү) take front suffixes; back vowels (а, о, ұ, ы, у) take back suffixes; labial harmony further constrains rounded vowels.

Kazakh plural suffixes: -лар/-лер/-дар/-дер/-тар/-тер, chosen by the final sound of the stem (voiceless → -тар/-тер, nasal/liquid → -дар/-дер).

Kazakh case system: nominative, genitive (-ның/-нің/-дың/-дің/-тың/-тің), dative (-ға/-ге/-қа/-ке), accusative (-ны/-ні/-ды/-ді/-ты/-ті), locative (-да/-де/-та/-те), ablative (-дан/-ден/-тан/-тен).

Russian noun gender is predictable from the nominative ending: masculine (consonant, -й, -ь), feminine (-а/-я/-ь), neuter (-о/-е); -ь words require memorized gender.

Russian verb aspect: imperfective = process, repetition, ongoing action; perfective = completed, single result; aspect choice, not tense, carries completion meaning.

Russian case governance: prepositions fix case (в/на + prepositional for location, + accusative for direction; с + instrumental for instrument; без + genitive).

Orthography decision rule: distinguish spelling determined by morphology (same morpheme, same spelling) from spelling determined by phonetics (voicing assimilation, unstressed vowel reduction).

Reading strategy: match the question type to the text - detail questions locate a paraphrase, inference questions require a conclusion not stated verbatim, main-idea questions require the whole passage.

Distractor patterns in reading: true-but-not-asked, overgeneralization (all/always/never), reversal of cause and effect, and out-of-scope comparison.

English conditionals: zero (fact), first (real future), second (unreal present), third (unreal past); mixed conditionals combine past condition with present result.

English tense contrast: present perfect links past action to present relevance; past simple closes the action in the past; signal words (since, for, ago, yesterday) usually decide.

German word order: verb second in main clauses, verb final in subordinate clauses introduced by dass/weil/wenn, and infinitive or participle at the end of the bracket.

German case after prepositions: accusative (durch, für, gegen, ohne, um), dative (aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu), two-way prepositions take accusative for motion and dative for location.

French agreement: the past participle with avoir agrees only with a preceding direct object; with être it agrees with the subject.

Cloze/error items: test the sentence for one grammatical feature at a time (agreement, tense, preposition, article) rather than reading for overall meaning.

Validity test for categorical syllogisms: a form is valid only if no counterexample exists with true premises and a false conclusion; validity concerns form, truth concerns content.

Distribution rules: in a valid categorical syllogism the middle term must be distributed at least once, and no term may be distributed in the conclusion unless distributed in a premise.

Implication: A → B is false only when A is true and B is false; its contrapositive ¬B → ¬A is equivalent, while its converse B → A is not.

Quantifier negation: ¬(∀x P(x)) ≡ ∃x ¬P(x) and ¬(∃x P(x)) ≡ ∀x ¬P(x); negation flips the quantifier and negates the predicate.

Fallacies to identify: affirming the consequent, denying the antecedent, ad hominem, straw man, false dilemma, circular reasoning, hasty generalization.

Hypothesis types: null (no effect) vs. alternative (effect exists); a Type I error rejects a true null, a Type II error fails to reject a false null.

Sampling logic: probability sampling (random, stratified, cluster) supports generalization; convenience and purposive sampling do not license statistical generalization.

Research design order: problem → research question → hypothesis → methods and sample → data collection → analysis → interpretation → limitations; skipping the question stage invalidates the design.