Aptitude and Reasoning
Aptitude and Reasoning tests how you handle unfamiliar problems rather than what you have memorised. Typical items are number and letter series, coding–decoding, analogies, blood relations, direction sense, seating arrangement, syllogisms, and non-verbal items such as mirror images, paper folding and embedded figures.
Methods that work
- Number series: test differences first, then ratios, then squares, cubes and alternating patterns (two interleaved series).
- Letter series: number the alphabet A=1 to Z=26, and use EJOTY (E=5, J=10, O=15, T=20, Y=25) to locate letters quickly.
- Coding: write the alphabet above the given words and look for a constant shift, reversal or position-sum rule.
- Blood relations: draw a family tree with gender symbols; never hold it in your head.
- Directions: sketch north upwards, mark every turn, then compute the final displacement.
- Syllogisms: draw Venn diagrams and test whether the conclusion must be true, not whether it can be.
Worked example
If each letter of a word is replaced by the sum of its alphabet positions, and “PEN” becomes 16 + 5 + 14 = 35, what does “CAP” become? C=3, A=1, P=16, so the code is 3 + 1 + 16 = 20. The reasoning step is to verify the rule against the given example first, then apply it - never assume a rule you have not checked.
Traps that cost marks
- Forcing a simple +3 pattern when the series actually alternates.
- Miscounting letters in words with repeats, such as “arrangement”.
- In blood relations, confusing “my father’s only son” with a brother when the speaker is male.
- Ignoring that an option satisfies the conclusion but not the premises.
Answer the easy items first; reasoning papers are marked on correct answers, not on the order attempted.