Serial Reasoning
Serial Reasoning items show a sequence of figures that changes step by step. You choose the figure that comes next. NNAT3 sequences are built from rules such as rotation, movement along a path, alternating shading, growing or shrinking counts, and repeating cycles. The sequence may combine two independent rules, so track each attribute separately.
Core rules
- Identify what changes and what stays constant. A shape may keep its identity while its position, orientation, or fill changes.
- Test one attribute at a time: position, rotation, size, color or shading, number of elements.
- Look for cycles. A three-item cycle repeats every third step; a four-item cycle every fourth.
- Check direction and step size. A dot may move clockwise one corner per frame, or two corners per frame.
Worked example
Frame 1: a small dot at the top-left corner of a square, and the square is unshaded. Frame 2: dot at top-right, square shaded. Frame 3: dot at bottom-right, square unshaded. Frame 4: dot at bottom-left, square shaded. The dot moves clockwise one corner per frame; the shading alternates every frame. The next frame must have the dot back at top-left and the square unshaded.
Traps
- Finding one rule and stopping before checking a second attribute.
- Assuming the sequence repeats from the first frame rather than continuing the cycle.
- Reversing clockwise and counterclockwise movement.
- Miscounting the number of shapes when the rule adds or removes one per frame.