NNAT3 key terms

The task of identifying which missing piece finishes a partly shown design so that its lines, colors, and shapes continue without breaking.

The absent section of a design, usually shown as an empty outlined area, that must be matched to one answer option.

The way a line, edge, or color band keeps going in the same direction and thickness across the boundary of the missing area.

The mental ability to perceive a whole figure even when part of it is hidden or removed, filling in the gap automatically.

Checking that lines and borders touching the edge of the missing area meet the same lines on the candidate piece at the same height and angle.

The exact position of a shape or line relative to the frame and to other features, which must stay consistent when a piece is inserted.

The relative size of parts within a design, such as a stripe's width compared with the whole shape, which must be preserved in the correct piece.

A balanced arrangement in which one half of a figure mirrors the other across a line, often used to predict what a hidden section should contain.

An imaginary straight line through a figure such that folding along it makes the two halves coincide exactly.

One of the several small pictures offered as possible answers, only one of which correctly completes or continues the displayed pattern.

An answer choice designed to look plausible but wrong, typically because it flips, rotates, resizes, or recolors a feature that should stay fixed.

A relationship stated in the form A is to B as C is to what, where the same rule linking the first pair must be applied to the second.

The single transformation, such as adding a side, changing color, or rotating, that connects the first pair and must be repeated for the second.

Two figures grouped together in an analogy problem whose difference defines the rule to be copied onto another figure.

A change applied to a figure, including rotation, reflection, resizing, recoloring, or adding and removing parts.

Turning a figure about a point by a set angle, so its shape and size stay the same but its orientation changes.

Flipping a figure across a line so it becomes a mirror image, reversing left and right or top and bottom.

The reversed copy of a figure produced by reflection, which cannot be obtained by sliding or turning alone.

Making a figure larger or smaller while keeping its internal proportions, a common rule in analogy and series items.

The direction a figure faces, described by how far it has been turned from an upright starting position.

The task of finding the rule that governs a left-to-right sequence of figures and choosing the figure that comes next.

An ordered row of figures in which each item follows from the one before according to a consistent rule.

The repeating change from one step of a sequence to the next, such as one extra dot, an alternating color, or a quarter turn.

The fixed amount of change between consecutive items in a sequence, for example adding two sides or rotating thirty degrees each time.

A sequence in which a quantity rises or falls by a constant amount at each step, such as side counts 3, 5, 7, 9.

A sequence in which features switch back and forth between two states, such as filled then empty, or large then small.

A sequence that repeats a short block of states, such as three colors in rotation, so the pattern returns to its start after a fixed number of steps.

The mental skill of imagining how a flat shape would look after being folded, combined, or viewed from another position.

Bending a flat sheet along a line so that parts of it overlap, often used to predict the combined result or a punched-hole pattern.

The straight line along which a paper shape is folded, which acts as a mirror line for the part that moves.

A hole made through folded paper that appears in every layer, so unfolding produces a set of holes related by reflection.

Imagining a shape turned in space to decide whether it matches another figure or is a different shape entirely.

A step-by-step account of folds applied to a sheet, after which the candidate must identify the appearance of the unfolded result.

The region where two shapes or layers cover the same area, whose combined color or outline must be worked out correctly.

Placing one figure directly on top of another so their parts combine, with overlapping areas following a stated rule.

Merging two or more figures into a single picture, where features may add together, cancel out, or stay unchanged.

The separation of a target shape from the background or surrounding shapes, needed to read complex or overlapping designs accurately.