Pictorial Reasoning
Pictorial reasoning uses pictures of objects, people, and scenes to test analogies, classification, and pattern completion. Reading load is low, but the section demands careful attribute analysis: you must name what changed and what stayed the same.
Core moves
- Inventory attributes: category, function, part-whole, material, location, sequence, size, color, and number.
- For analogies, build a relation sentence from the first pair, then apply it to the second.
- For classification, find the rule all but one picture share; test each option against that rule.
- For pattern completion, track changes across frames and decide whether the pattern repeats or progresses.
Worked example
A picture analogy shows a glove beside a hand, then a boot beside a blank. Options are foot, sock, leg, and shoe. Bridge sentence: a glove is worn on a hand to cover and protect it; a boot is worn on a foot. Answer: foot. Sock is related but names clothing, not the body part; shoe is the same category as boot rather than the target relation. Eliminate by relation, not by visual similarity.
Traps that cost marks
Choosing an object that looks like the stem picture instead of matching the relation; ignoring function; missing that two attributes change at once; treating background detail as meaningful when the rule uses only the main object.