Memory, attention and space
Visual comparison
Counting the details that differ between two or more otherwise identical pictures, working through them systematically rather than stopping at the first difference.
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.
Comparing Pictures
Counting the details that differ between two or more otherwise identical pictures.
Where people lose it
Stopping at the first difference you find. The question is usually how MANY things changed, not whether anything did, and the one you spot immediately is rarely the only one.
How to work itRankHigh method
- Sweep both pictures in the same fixed order every time — left to right, top to bottom — rather than letting your eye jump to whatever stands out.
- Compare one object at a time and finish it before moving on: is it there, is it the same size, is it facing the same way, is there the same number of it?
- Count as you go and keep a running total. Recounting from memory at the end is where the miscount happens.
- An object can differ in position, in size, in orientation, in how many there are, or by being absent entirely. Check all five before deciding an object is unchanged.
Do not stop when the count reaches the number in the option you already like. Finish the sweep, then 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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