Reasoning and judgment
Inductive reasoning
Inferring the rule or pattern that connects a set of specific facts.
Exams on RankHigh that test this
What follows is our approach, not an official rule. What each question type measures is set by the body that runs the examination. How to work one is RankHigh’s method — it is what a good tutor would tell you, and there is more than one way to be right. Where an examination publishes its own instructions, those govern on the day.
Looking at specific facts and finding the rule or pattern that connects them.
Where people lose it
Settling on the first pattern that fits some of the data. A pattern that explains three of five cases is not the answer; it is the distractor built for people in a hurry.
How to work itRankHigh method
- Work out what is being asked before you look for the pattern — the rule that fits ALL cases, or the one that fits best?
- Test any candidate pattern against every case, including the ones that already fit.
- Where several patterns fit, prefer the one that needs no exceptions.
- If a choice requires you to add a condition nobody mentioned, it is wrong.
Where two patterns both fit, the one needing no exceptions is usually the answer.
Practice it on your own exam
Method only sticks against real questions. Every exam in the catalog opens with a free twelve-question diagnostic — in your browser, with a worked explanation for every answer, and no signup.
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