What is a logical reasoning test?
Logical reasoning questions ask you to use rules or relationships to reach a conclusion. Deductive reasoning checks what must follow from stated conditions. Inductive reasoning asks you to infer a pattern from examples. These are related skills, but a pattern that fits a few observations is different from a conclusion guaranteed by a rule.
Question 1: what must follow?
All shortlisted candidates completed an ethics module. Priya is shortlisted. Which conclusion follows?
A: Priya completed the module.
B: Everyone who completed the module is shortlisted.
C: Only Priya completed the module.
D: Priya received the highest score.
Answer and explanation
A. The rule applies to every shortlisted candidate, including Priya. B reverses the condition. C and D introduce information that is not supplied. Write the direction as “shortlisted → completed”, rather than treating the two groups as identical.
Question 2: test a pattern
Consider 3, 7, 15, 31. Under the rule “double the previous number, then add one”, what comes next?
Options: A: 47 · B: 62 · C: 63 · D: 64
Answer and explanation
C: 63. Check each transition: 3 × 2 + 1 = 7; 7 × 2 + 1 = 15; 15 × 2 + 1 = 31. Applying the stated rule gives 31 × 2 + 1 = 63. The rule is supplied here so that a short number sequence does not pretend to have only one mathematically possible continuation.
Question 3: distinguish possible from necessary
Every report reviewed by Omar has a reference number. A report on the desk has a reference number. Must Omar have reviewed it?
Answer and explanation
No. Omar’s reviews imply a reference number, but a reference number does not imply Omar’s review. Another person could have reviewed the report. That possibility is enough to show that the conclusion is not required by the information.
A checklist for unfamiliar patterns
For abstract questions, inspect one feature at a time: number, position, orientation, shading or movement. State a candidate rule, check it against all supplied examples and then compare the options. If it explains one transition but fails another, revise it.
In a review log, separate a missed feature from a reversed condition. Each needs different practice. A missed feature calls for systematic observation; a reversed condition calls for checking the direction of the implication.
Return to the aptitude preparation guide to organise your next session, or practise evidence-based reading with the verbal reasoning examples.
Try the interactive reasoning samples, then browse timed aptitude practice. The examples here are original learning exercises. Your employer’s invitation controls the live format and rules.