NNAT3 Level A: Pattern Completion (NNAT3 Level A)

Pattern Completion is the NNAT3 Level A domain in which a matrix or grid has one missing cell and the child chooses the piece that completes the overall design. Level A is the kindergarten level, so the designs are pictorial rather than verbal: shape, color, size, orientation, and position carry the rule. The task tests whether the child can infer the rule from the visible cells and apply it to the hole.

Core rules

• Read across rows and down columns separately. A row may repeat a shape while a column repeats a color, or the reverse.
• Check attributes in a fixed order: shape, color, size, orientation, position.
• The missing piece must fit the edges of neighboring cells; a line that stops at the hole must continue in the answer.
• In a 2x2 grid, the hole is defined by one row and one column, so the answer must satisfy both.

Worked example

A 2x2 grid shows a blue circle top-left, a blue square top-right, and a yellow circle bottom-left. The hole is bottom-right. Row 1 keeps blue and changes circle to square. Column 1 keeps circle and changes blue to yellow. The bottom row should keep square and change to yellow; the right column should keep yellow and change to square. The missing piece is a yellow square. A yellow circle copies the column shape, and a blue square copies the row color, so neither completes the pattern.

Traps that cost marks

• Matching only one attribute, such as color, while ignoring shape.
• Choosing a piece that looks like a neighbor instead of completing the row-and-column rule.
• Ignoring line continuity at the edges of the hole.
• Selecting a rotated piece when the grid fixes orientation.