ABSTRACT REASONING GLOSSARY

S – Shape
C – Colours
A – Arrangement/Angles
N – Numbers
S – Size/Symmetry

*Shading may be a distraction or hold numerical values

*Beware of thickness of lines
*Maybe to avoid distraction, compare with 2 blocks in the same set.
*Sometimes if the shapes have a lot of sides, the rule might have nothing to do with the
number of sides
*Prime numbers are important: 2,3,5,7,11,13…

SHAPES
 Position of shapes
 A triangle will be on the bottom left corner for Set A
 The square is always positioned to the left of the circle for Set A (THIS CAN BE HARD
TO IDENTIFY WHEN THERE ARE MANY SHAPES)
 Curved shapes may be at the top (Be careful to define exactly halfway)
 If the innermost circle/square is thick, then it is at the top of the block
 Some shapes are specifically either at the top corner left or bottom. Usually there are 2
conditions for these patterns (if exam is going bad FIND THE OTHER CONDITION)
 In Set A, shapes are positioned either on the left or right (colour is a distractor) and in
Set B, shapes are positioned either on the top or bottom.
 In Set A, there are always two shapes on the top row and one on the bottom row. The
sum of the sides in the top row is equal to the number of sides in the bottom row.
 DON’T FORGET TO CONSIDER ROWS AND COLUMNS: In Set A, the black circle is
always in the left column and the black square is always in the right column. In Set B,
there is always a square in the right-hand column and a circle in the left-hand column.
 Shape orientation will change depending on where arrow is pointing
 One shape correlate to the presence of another shape (one black star for one C
shape)
 Sum of sides may be 12 for Set A and 13 for Set B
 If the inside shape has less sides than the outside shape, a black dot will appear and if
 it is reversed a white dot will appear. If they have the same number of sides then a
lined dot will appear.
 The number of pentagons is one more than the number of circles (other shapes are
distractors)
 In Set A, there are 2 shapes with solid lines and 3 shapes with dotted edges. Other
way around for Set B.
 In Set A, there are 12 shapes and lines in total. In Set B, there are 13 shapes and lines
in total.
 Check which way the shapes are facing: for set A there are an equal number of
shapes pointing left and pointing right, for set B there are more leaves pointing left
than right.
 In a shape grid, in each column the shapes are arranged from top to bottom and are
increasing in number of sides, for Set A. For Set B, in each column the shapes are
arranged from top to bottom with decreasing number of sides.
 For Set A, the number of curved sides is equal to the number of straight sides and for
Set B, the number of straight sides is one greater than the number of curved sides.
(DON’T PANIC IF IT IS NOT EXACTLY ONE, AS LONG IT IS MORE, THAT’S GOOD
ENOUGH)
 The sum of the sides of the two white shapes connected by a straight line is one more
than the number of small grey circles. Third white shape is a distractor (Maybe HINT:
the line between the two shapes)
 Set A has an even number of shapes and Set B has an odd number of shapes.
(Maybe centre shape is black/white)
 In Set A, the number of shapes in the top left and top right area equals the number of
shapes in the bottom area. In Set B, the number of shapes in the top right and bottom
area equals the number of shapes in the top left area.
 For Set A, there is always an odd number of happy faces. (Number of sad faces varies
between odd and even). For Set B, there is always an even number of happy faces.
 In Set A, there are unique shapes and either have four or five sides. In Set B, three
shapes are unique and one is repeated.
 Set A has 9 squares in total and Set B has 12 squares in total.
 In Set A, there is always one more triangle than there are squares. The colours are a
distraction.
 Shape + line = 4 for set A. Shape + line = 5 for set B
 In Set A, there is always a square and triangle and they are the same colour. In Set B,
there is always a square and circle and they are the same colour.
CLOCKS:
 In Set A, the two hands of the clock multiply to give an odd number. In Set b, the
hands multiply to give an even number.


SHADED SHAPES
 Small bolts are white and larger bolts are black. Smaller suns are white and larger
suns are black.
 Shaded shapes may be on the inner side of the curve (for Set B, the shaded shapes
will be on the outside).
 For Set A, shaded shapes may be on the horizontal axis or diagonally (from top left to
bottom right). For Set B, shaded shapes may be on the vertical axis or diagonally
(from top right to bottom left).
 Shaded shape will have more/less/even sides than white shape. OR Black shapes has
even number of sides and grey shapes have odd number of sides.
 In Set A, the grey shape has the largest number of sides. In Set B, the black shape
has the largest number of sides.
 If the previous hexagon was shaded a dot will be added, if the previous hexagon was
white a dot will be removed
 For Set A the number of shaded triangles and side of shape are equal. The number of
white triangles is 2 less than the number of sides.
 If there is a black triangle then the arrow will point to the shape with the greatest
number of sides and if there is a grey triangle then the arrow will point to the shape
with the least number of sides.
 In Set A, the number of sides of shapes equals to the number of arrows. In Set B, the
number of arrows is 1 less than the number of sides.
 If the shape is shaded, then a line will appear over the bottom shape. If the shape is
not shaded, the line will appear below the bottom shape.
 If the tree is shaded, the star will have an even number of points.
 In Set A, the two circles have patterned texture and one circle is white. In Set B, the
two circles are white and one circle has patterned textures.
 The total number of sides of the white shapes is even and the total number of sides of
black shapes is odd.
 For every white circle, there is one black triangle. For every black circle, there are two
 black triangles.
 A white arrow means that the largest shape is black. A black arrow means that the
largest shape is white.
 In Set A the white shape is the largest. In Set B the grey shape is the largest.

SHADED SECTIONS
 Set A may have even number of grey sections and odd number of white sections
 For Set A all grey sections may be at the top and for Set B grey sections are at the
bottom
 Set A will strictly have 2 black, 3 white and 1 grey section. Set B will strictly have 3
grey, 1 black, 2 white sections.
 In Set A, if the larger shape has straight sides only, one colour is used. If the larger
shape has curved sides only two colours are used. If the larger shape has both
straight and curved sides, three colours are used.

QUADRILATERALS
 Quadrilaterals may always be on the left or top side of the circle for set A. They will
then be on the right or bottom side of the circle for Set B.
 If you see this image, start thinking about quadrilaterals.
 If the triangle is to the right of the quadrilateral, the triangle is black. If the triangle is to
the left of the quadrilateral, the triangle is grey. If there is no triangle, there is a star.
 In Set A, there is always a quadrilateral to the left of a crescent. In Set B, there is
always a quadrilateral to the right of a crescent.

FLOWERS
 In Set A, the flowers alternate between having a (+) orientation and a (x) orientation all
around the figure, so that no two adjacent flowers in a clockwise cycle have the same
orientation.
 In Set B, no two adjacent flowers in a clockwise cycle have the same colour.
Orientation is irrelevant.
ANGLES
*Don’t forget about your types of triangles
 In Set A there are 3 triangles (ONE OF THEM IS A RIGHT-ANGLED TRIANGLE) and
4 rectangles. In Set B there are 4 rectangles and 3 isosceles triangles.
 When the arrow points up, there will be an isosceles triangle. When the arrow points
down, there will be a right-angled triangle.
 In Set A, 2 equal angles pointing to a circle and in Set B, two unequal angles pointing
to a circle.
 In Set A, the arrows only point to acute angles and in Set B the arrows only point to
obtuse angles.
 In Set A, there are three shapes that each have an interior reflex angle (more than 180
degrees). In Set B, there are three shapes that all have interior angles less than 180
degrees.
 In Set A, all the shapes have at least one internal right angle. In Set B, there is no
internal right angle in any shape.

Maybe if you see this shape, start thinking about right angles?

ROTATION
 In Set A, as you move clockwise, the shapes are rotated 90 degrees anticlockwise. In
Set B, as you move anticlockwise, the shapes are rotated 90 degrees clockwise.
 NUMERICAL VALUE – When there are repeated shapes, nothing to do with quadrilaterals
and nothing to do with number of sides or symmetry.
 Star may equal one point, heart equals two points, moon equals three points.
 Top shape = 1 point. Bottom shape = 2 points.

DOTS
 Count how many; even or odd or multiples of a certain number
 Top block has more dots than bottom dot. Sum of dots in set A is a prime number and
sum of dots in set B is a square number.
 Are there more inside or outside the shape?
 Maybe longer or shorter blocks have more dots
 Set A has less than five square dots in the shape, set B has 8 square dots in the
upside-down shape.
 In Set A, the Christmas tree has even number of dots and the snowman has an odd
number of dots.

DOMINOES
- Sum of dots equals a prime number, sum of dots equals an even number
OVERLAPPING SHAPES
 Check how many areas ‘overlap.’
 How many points have intersected
 May need to combine both rules e.g., 4 overlaps, 6 intersecting points
 The compound created by the overlapping shapes has four sides (while in set B it may
have 5)
 Set A has overlapping shapes and Set B does not have any overlapping shapes. The
total number of sides is 8.
 If shape overlap, the shape is grey. If shapes do not overlap, the shape is black.
 Similar to the above one, a grey circle appears if the shapes overlap and a white circle
 appears if the shapes do not overlap.
 In Set A less than 50% of the shape will overlap and in Set B over 50% of the shape
will overlap
 If 3 shapes overlap it is black and if 2 shapes overlap it is grey. In Set A there is an
even number of shades and in set B there are an odd number of shades.
 There doesn’t always have to be shaded sections for overlapping shapes it can just be
lines. Set A will have even number of intersections and enclosed areas and Set B will
have odd number of intersections and enclosed areas.
 If the two central shapes sit next to each other, then you add the number of sides
together. If they overlap, then you subtract one from the other. Either case, the number
should be equal to the number of sides the outer shape has.

SYMMETRY
 Axis of symmetry
 Set A and Set B may have shapes with different amount of symmetry
 There may be multiple shapes in each block but together Set A may only have one line
of symmetry and Set B will have 0 lines of symmetry
 In Set A, the white shape has one line of symmetry and the black shapes have more
than one line of symmetry.
ARROWS
 Arrow may point to shapes that have even/odd/most amount of sides
 Count how many arrows (Set A can have odd and Set B can have even)
 May be pointing up in Set A and may be pointing down in Set B
 The number of arrows pointing upwards is equal to the number of arrows pointing
downwards. (Then in Set B, number of arrows pointing upwards is one more/less than
the number of arrows pointing downwards.
 If there is a circle present, the arrow is black. If there is no circle the arrow is white.
(Sometimes direction of arrows does not matter)
 In Set A, if the arrow is pointing up a square is always present, and if the arrow is
pointing down, a circle is always present. In Set B, if the arrow is pointing up, a
pentagon is always present and if the arrow is pointing down a hexagon is always
present.
 In Set A, the odd number arrows point to the side and the even number arrows point
up and down.
 The number of upward facing arrowheads equals the number of shapes.
 In Set A, the arrow is facing upwards and there are more shapes on the left of the
arrow than the right. In Set B, the arrow is facing downwards and there are more
shapes to the right of the arrow. .

LINES
 Set A will have even number of lines and Set B will have odd number of lines. Shaded
circles are distractors.
 If there are even number of intersections
 In Set A, there is a line with four vertices. In Set B, there is a line with five vertices.

DOTS AND LINES

 In Set A, the number of dots is equal to the number of lines and for Set B the number
of dots is 2 less than the number of lines.
 Check the positioning of the white circle, is it at the beginning or end of the line

SPIRALS
 Maybe count how many lines in each spiral (even/odd)
 May be moving in clockwise or anticlockwise direction

LINES AND SHAPES

 The rectangle may always be one/two lines above the star (this would be for Set A,
maybe fore Set B, rectangle is one/two lines below the star). There is always sone
shape on each horizontal line. Other shapes may be distractors.
 If the number of intersections is prime than a black diamond appears bottom right. If
the number of intersections is non-prime than a white pentagon appears.
 In Set A, there are two circles that have tangents and in Set B, there is one circle with
two lines transecting it (crossing through it).
 There are an equal number of squares and lines. If the number of squares is even, a
grey triangle appears.
SEQUENCES
*Sometimes 2 patterns may be occurring. One pattern will happen for every odd box and the
other for every even box.
SHAPE GRIDS
 Bottom shapes will be in the inside of the shapes in the top row.
 Top left and bottom right shapes rotate 90 degrees anticlockwise (become black) and
top right and bottom left shapes rotate 90 degrees clockwise (become grey).
 For the left row the pattern may be moving down and for the right row the pattern amy
be moving up
 In a 3x3 grid, the dot may start from the corner but might not be moving diagonally, it
could be shifting by 2 places to the right.

LINES
 Sometimes there is no pattern, there are just 6 lines in each box.
 Number of lines increases in a special pattern (3,4,6,9,13…)
ARROWS
 {} may correspond to a single pointed arrow. () may correspond to double pointed
arrow. (Dot corresponds to square)
 Arrows rotate by 90 degrees clockwise.
SHAPES AND LINES/ARROWS
 Shapes with odd number of sides will have +2 lines. Shapes with even number of
sides have -2 lines.
 The number of circles will increase by one and so will the number of arrows pointing
towards the circle.
 Number of intersecting arrows increases by one and sides of shape decrease by one.
 Number of intersections on lines correlates to number of sides shape has
 Direction of arrow may correlate to number of shaded shapes
 White stars correlate to the amount of sides shape has and black stars are one more
than the number of lines inside the shape
 Number of segments increases with the number of dots.
 Number of segments increases and number of sides of shape decrease

SHADED SHAPES
 In every odd block the number of shaded blocks touching the sides increases by two.
In every even block the number of shaded blocks in the centre stays the same.
 Shaded shapes lose on side in the next pattern and unshaded shapes gain a side in
the next pattern.
 Shaded circle corresponds to arrows and its position.
 Shaded shape may alternate corners
 Alternating shapes (if they are on a certain triangle, they are black and if on another
they are white) (Don’t forget to look at rotation - anticlockwise)
 If you have the classic square with shaded triangles, divide it into 8 pieces and see
how the 2 different triangles are rotating (one triangle may move 2 steps clockwise and
the other moves only one spot clockwise)
 Coloured shapes may double and white shapes may halve.
 The number of sides on the inside shape in the first frame become the number of
sides on the outside shape in the second frame and the same applies for the outside
shape in the first frame and inside shape in the second frame.
 The ONLY CONSISTENT PATTERN is the shaded shape alternates between triangle
and rectangle.
SYMMETRY
 The number of lines of symmetry increases by one
SHAPES
 Inner shape may be split to be outer shape. Outer shape will then be the inner shape.
 Top left (1st) shape may become inner shape and top left (2nd) shape will become
black. Bottom left shape will become outer grey shape.
 Pattern for left row moves down and hearts rotate clockwise by 90 degrees and arrows
rotate anticlockwise.
 Different coloured shapes rotate by a different number of degrees (and maybe
direction)
 Linked Shapes

 The shape at the bottom and at the top right are always shaded. As you move along
the sequence, the top right and bottom right shape change position. The three
remaining shapes rotate in a anti-clockwise fashion.
 Always check which way shapes are moving (could be 4 shapes but 3 blocks)

ANGLES
 The number of sides a shape has is equal to the number of reflex angles.