abstract reasoning

**esizaze** · 24-07-2012, 06:50 PM

hello,
i have been having a little bit of trouble in the abstract reasoning session and guess the answers most times. what is this session about please? are there any rules whatsoever?

**jcak** · 24-07-2012, 10:09 PM

The aim of the abstract reason sub test is to distinguish between 2 sets of abstract groups of shapes and put a "test shape" into a group accordingly. The reason for this is to test a candidates ability to identify patterns among information.

When taking the test you will be presented with a test shape next to two sets, Set A and Set B. Each set consists of 6 boxes with shapes in each box. The shapes within the box all conform to a certain rule or group of rules that make them distinct to the set they are in. For example, shapes which can go into set A may not go into set B as they fulfill a different (often opposing) set of rules.
[There are times when this is not the case, such as in a reflection vs rotation question, but we'll leave those out for the purposes of simplicity]

The three options to choose from when placing a test shape is "Set A", "Set B", and "Neither", so it is possible if you are struggling to find a correlation between the test shape and the groups there is no correlation and it belongs to neither groups.

The various rules that can be used to group shapes into the Sets can be (but are not limited to) down to features of the shapes within each box such as:
Number;
Size;
Shape;
Number of sides;
Enclosed regions;
Type of shading/colour;
Patterns;
Position within cell;
Direction (arrows pointing up/down/left/right etc...);
Rotation (eg. each shape within a box has the same rotational symmetry);
Reflection (one shape in the cell could always be a reflection of another);
Points of intersection (if there are two lines in every box they could intersect at the ends of each line or at the middle of each line etc...).

These are just a few points that you could look for. In order to get some real practice which will inevitably help your score if you know what you're looking for, I would recommend getting the book http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Master-U...3149625&sr=8-1 "How to Master the UKCAT". These questions sure helped me and I'm now blitzing that part of the test.

If the worst comes to the worst, guessing isn't a bad option. A lot of people do resort to guessing and if you can't find any relationships between shapes it is the only thing to do!

I hope this information helped- good luck in your UKCAT! Any problems whatsoever, feel free to PM me.

**NotADumbBlonde** · 01-08-2012, 01:05 AM

I feel your pain - I've started revising already for my UKCAT next year and it's transpiring to be a great plan - having NO LUCK with AR and I'm usually good at this sort of thing!! I've only successfully completed one question so far

any tips or techniques would be greatly appreciated! I know WHAT I'm supposed to be looking for but I can never find it xx

**busy_bookie** · 01-08-2012, 07:54 PM

Jcak has covered the basics well. My AR score was 750. This test is a measure of your ability to formulate and test hypothesis in the face of distracting information. Treat it as such. If you are faced with a bunch of shapes in a box they will all be following some rule. Start with the basics, count the number of shapes in the first box, say there are 5, now create the hypothesis "There are 5 shapes in every box", now test it, count the next box, does it hold true? If yes continue, if there are a different number of shapes, say 7, discard the hypothesis. There is often more than one rule, for example, if there is a square, all the circles are black, if there is a triangle they are shaded. Even if you can only identify one of these rules you increase your chances of getting the right answer. Try to identify the important shapes, for example, arrows, do they point towards or away from something? Are shapes always in the same place, do they come in pairs? Make sure you buy the books and read them, then do the practice test to time, you need to time it right. Finally if you can't identify a rule try to identify a pattern, ie there are about the same number of black and white, or, there is often a square, then sort the test shapes according to a rough pattern, that's the best you can do.

**NotADumbBlonde** · 01-08-2012, 09:59 PM

Hi busy_bookie!

I've just seen your post in the UKCAT scores thread - congrats on an AMAZING score! 783 is ridiculous. Where are you going to apply with that? You can pretty much take your pick of UKCAT unis - lucky you!

Thank you for the really helpful advice - I'm going to have another crack tonight. Started to get the hang of it a little last night but I think time is the main issue. Definitely have to get every practice resource available as I've nearly finished the AR examples of the 600Q book - and I have 11 months before my exam! Keeno.

Did you struggle with AR in the practice? Or which sections did you find easiest/hardest and why? Thank you so much for the tips, keep 'em coming!xx

**busy_bookie** · 01-08-2012, 10:19 PM

Thanks a lot for the compliments! Timing was an issue for me as well, but the questions in the books did seem a little harder. If I had anything more to say on the AR it would to be careful to not get distracted by the distractions, for example if you find that there are an even number of shapes on the left, and an odd number on the right be prepared to ignore the shading of the shapes if you're running out of time. I personally found QR the hardest in preperation, but I think that's true of most people. I can't really emphasise enough the importance of working to time, it gives you an idea of how much detail you can read in the VR, and an intuitive sense of how long you should be spending on each question. Finally for DA always right the code down, and always do that in its unaltered form, in the test today I had a code for "opposite seek" I thought about just writing down the word "lose", but when I compared it to the answers opposite seek actually meant "hide".

**NotADumbBlonde** · 01-08-2012, 10:37 PM

Yeah, I think identifying the distractions will HOPEFULLY come with more practice. It's weird, either I can see the pattern straight away in the first 30 seconds or so, or I can stare at it for hours and get nowhere. Hopefully practice DOES make perfect! Good advice for the QR - hopefully it's something I can learn with endless percentage and exchange rate drills haha. Haven't looked at DA yet - on my list to do tonight! Where's your first choice uni? And what work exp have you got under your belt?xx

**busy_bookie** · 02-08-2012, 03:18 AM

Originally Posted by NotADumbBlonde

Yeah, I think identifying the distractions will HOPEFULLY come with more practice. It's weird, either I can see the pattern straight away in the first 30 seconds or so, or I can stare at it for hours and get nowhere. Hopefully practice DOES make perfect! Good advice for the QR - hopefully it's something I can learn with endless percentage and exchange rate drills haha. Haven't looked at DA yet - on my list to do tonight! Where's your first choice uni? And what work exp have you got under your belt?xx

I don't really know where to apply yet, my choices will probably be constrained by my A levels, work experience, and the fact that I'll be applying before I finish. Work experience wise, I've been at St John ambulance for over a year, but not actually got much out of it, I've been volunteering at a local care home, and I've applied for a role reading to stroke patients in the hospital but not actually done any yet. The deadline is approaching so I'm kind of running out of time but hey ho! I'm hoping to write a decent personal statement and maybe the fact that I've been working a 20/30 hour week on top of study will buy me a bit of slack!

**busy_bookie** · 02-08-2012, 03:20 AM

You're doing the right thing by starting early by the way, if you get the full maintenance grant you could even sit the UKCAT for free this year, it won't count for next years application, but might be worth it for the experience.

**kaodeve** · 04-08-2012, 01:57 AM

AR was a nightmare for me before I sat it...just could not see the patterns..come the test was 2nd best score so I must've guessed well. got 680 for it which is not too shabby. Don't worry too much. I was so worried about AR, I ran out of time on QR and didn't do as well as practice test for VR which was usually my best. Overall, DA was my best followed by AR and before I sat it, I would never have predicted that!

Good luck to you all with your applications!