Memory, attention and space
Spatial orientation
Determining one's own position relative to a place, or a place relative to oneself, and how that changes with movement. Anchored to a viewpoint. Requires a diagram.
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.
Spatial Orientation — NYPD Police Officer, NYC School Safety Agent, NYC Correction Officer
Tested as “Spatial Orientation” on NYPD Police Officer, NYC School Safety Agent, NYC Correction Officer.
Working out where you are in relation to a place, or where a place is in relation to you.
Where people lose it
Starting the reasoning before fixing which way you are facing. Almost every lost mark here is made before any thinking begins.
How to work itRankHigh method
- Fix your heading first, in writing if the test allows it.
- Redraw the heading after every turn — a left turn is only left relative to where you are pointed.
- Read the one-way markings before choosing a route. The shortest path is often not a legal one.
- Name the destination corner by its two streets before you start moving.
Which way am I facing? Answer that before anything else.
Spatial Orientation — NY Local Police Officer
Tested as “Spatial Orientation” on NY Local Police Officer.
Reading a street map and choosing the shortest route from one corner to another, described with the right headings and turns.
Where people lose it
Checking only the distance. A route can be the right length and still be described with a turn that would not arrive.
How to work itRankHigh method
- Find both corners on the map and count the blocks east-west and north-south.
- Any route that does not double back covers that many blocks; anything longer is out.
- Then read the description as instructions and follow them: does each heading match the way the map runs?
- Check every turn. Turning from north into east is a right turn; from east into north it is a left.
Shortest and correctly described are two tests, and the wrong answers usually pass one of them.
Carry this into the room
- Spatial Orientation — NYPD Police Officer, NYC School Safety Agent, NYC Correction Officer: Which way am I facing? Answer that before anything else.
- Spatial Orientation — NY Local Police Officer: Shortest and correctly described are two tests, and the wrong answers usually pass one of them.
Practice it on your own exam
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