Intelligence and Reasoning
Intelligence and Reasoning measures pattern detection, verbal logic, spatial awareness, and speed. Items include number and letter series, analogies, coding-decoding, directions, blood relations, odd-one-out, matrices, and figure sequences.
Core rules
- For a series, write the differences or ratios between consecutive terms before guessing.
- In analogies, state the relationship in a full sentence: “A is to B as C is to ___.”
- In coding, map each letter or number to its position; do not assume the whole word uses one rule.
- For directions, draw axes and mark each turn; left/right depends on the facing direction.
- In blood relations, draw a family tree and use gender labels.
- In non-verbal items, track one feature at a time: rotation, shading, number of sides, position.
Worked example
Series: 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, ___. Differences: 4, 6, 8, 10. The differences rise by 2, so the next difference is 12. Therefore the next term is 30 + 12 = 42. A second check: the terms are 1×2, 2×3, 3×4, 4×5, 5×6, so the next is 6×7 = 42. The two methods agree.
Traps
Do not lock onto the first pattern; test at least two rules before answering. In direction questions, a 90° turn is not always “right” - it depends on facing. In coding, a letter’s reverse position (A=26) is a common twist. In figure series, do not ignore small changes such as a dot moving or a line thickening. If an item takes too long, mark one plausible answer and move on.