NNAT3 Level F - Conceptual Domain: Figural Rules, Analogies and Matrices
The Conceptual band is the figural-reasoning core of NNAT3 Level F: matrices, analogies and series built entirely from shapes, with no words, numbers or reading load. Level F is the upper-grade form (typically grades 7–9), so single-attribute items are rare; most items carry two or three rules at once, and the wrong answers are engineered to satisfy one rule but violate another.
What the items actually contain
Every item is a small rule system. Only a few attributes ever change: quantity, shape family, size, fill (black, white, grey, hatched), orientation, and position inside the frame.
- Reasoning by Analogy gives a pair A → B and asks you to apply the same relation to C.
- Serial Reasoning gives a 2×2 or 3×3 matrix in which each row and each column carries its own rule.
- The decisive principle: a correct choice must satisfy every complete row and every complete column - not just the one you noticed first.
Worked example
A 3×3 matrix of framed cells. Row 1 holds 1, 2 and 3 white circles. Row 2 holds 2, 3 and 4 grey circles. Row 3 holds 3, 4 and a question mark in black.
Row rule: +1 circle from left to right. Column rule: +1 circle from top to bottom. Fill rule: constant within a row and changing between rows. The missing cell therefore holds 5 black circles.
Now test the choices: 5 white circles breaks the fill rule; 4 black circles breaks both counting rules; 6 black circles overshoots the progression. Only 5 black survives all three rules.
Traps that cost marks
- Checking one line only. A rule seen in row 1 must be verified on row 2 before you commit.
- Per-step versus absolute change. A shape that turns 90° each cell has moved 270° by cell four; a shape that is always upright has not moved at all.
- Rotation mistaken for reflection. A turned shape and a flipped shape can be identical for symmetric figures - check the asymmetric detail (a dot, a notch, a shaded corner).
- Answer-first thinking. Once one choice looks pleasing, candidates stop deriving rules and start justifying.