Abstract and Logical Reasoning
What is tested
Two families of items. Figural items cover series and matrices: shapes rotating, reflecting, gaining sides, alternating shading, or accumulating small elements. Verbal-logical items cover syllogisms, conditional ('if…then') reasoning, and ordering puzzles where people, times or locations must be arranged from clues.
Traps
Rotation versus reflection is the classic figural trap - check one asymmetric feature to tell them apart. Do not assume two rules when one fits every term. Counting features (sides, enclosed regions, intersections, dots) often solves a pattern that looks like rotation. In logic, 'some A are B' converts to 'some B are A', but 'all A are B' does not convert to 'all B are A'. From 'if P then Q' you may validly infer 'not Q, therefore not P' - but not 'not P, therefore not Q' or 'Q, therefore P'. For ordering puzzles, draw a simple line or grid; do not hold the constraints in your head.
Rule of thumb
State your rule in one sentence, then test it against every term, including the answer. If the rule needs two clauses to explain three terms, look for something simpler.
Worked example
Sequence: 3, 6, 11, 18, 27, ? Differences: 3, 5, 7, 9 - an odd-number pattern, so the next difference is 11, giving 38. Logic item: 'If the alarm sounds, the drill is cancelled.' The drill was not cancelled. Valid conclusion: the alarm did not sound.