NNAT3 Level A: Reasoning by Analogy (NNAT3 Level A)

Reasoning by Analogy presents a completed pair of figures and a second pair with one figure missing: A is to B as C is to ?. The child must identify the exact change between A and B and apply that same change to C. Level A analogies use visible attributes-color, size, shape, number of parts, position, and simple rotation-rather than verbal labels.

Core rules

• State the change in words: “the shape got smaller,” “the color switched,” “the dot moved from inside to outside.”
• Apply only that change to the third figure; do not add a new change.
• If the first pair shows two simultaneous changes, both must appear in the answer.
• Check direction: A→B may differ from B→A, so apply the relation in the same direction.

Worked example

First pair: a large blue square changes to a small blue square. The rule is “same shape and same color, smaller size.” The second pair starts with a large yellow triangle. Applying the same rule gives a small yellow triangle. A large yellow triangle is wrong because nothing changed; a small yellow circle is wrong because the shape changed; a small blue triangle is wrong because the color changed.

Traps that cost marks

• Applying the relation backward, such as enlarging when the first pair shrank.
• Copying the second figure instead of transforming the third.
• Noticing color but missing size, or noticing size but missing shape.
• Treating a shape change as the rule when only size changed.