What Is an Analogy Reasoning Test?
The analogy reasoning test is a type of a mixture of a verbal reasoning test and a logical reasoning test meant to test your aptitude for recognizing patterns and filling in blanks within a pattern sequence. While this assessment may seem daunting, knowing what to expect and how to go about answering these questions can aid in your preparation to do well on the analogy reasoning test.
Potential employers and educational institutions may ask you to complete the analogy reasoning test to gauge your ability to “fill in gaps” of job-related duties such as on-site tasks and even paperwork. Pattern recognition is a skill you can hone through lots of practice, such as the example analogy reasoning test questions you can find in this article.
How to Prepare for the Analogy Reasoning Tests?
As aforementioned, the analogy reasoning test examines your ability to recognize patterns and fill in blanks. (Important note: often, these tests will use a colon to indicate a relationship between two things.)
Preparation for the analogy reasoning test boils down to simple practice. Exposing yourself to different types of analogy reasoning test questions will allow you to feel comfortable on test day as you’ll have a good idea as to what to expect. Note that question types can vary depending on the individual test, but the overall expectations remain constant. The general formula, no matter the question type, is that you will be given a pair of numbers, letters, words, or a combination of the above and expected to identify the relationship between these two things. These relationships can vary from simple addition differences to knowledge of job specialties, but the analogy reasoning test aims to assess your pattern-recognition and critical thinking ability. You will use the relationship you previously identified to complete a second pair of things.
In general, the question types you can expect to find are: number-based, word-based, and letter-and-number-based questions.
Below you will find examples of question types you will find in the analogy reasoning test as well as explanations for solving the exam questions:
Number-Based Reasoning Questions
Numerical analogy questions present you with a sequence of numbers followed by a blank or a question mark. Your job is to decide on the relationship between the given numbers and apply that relationship to the blank. Note that numerical questions can have relationships relating to addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squaring, et cetera.
Example Question:
9:81 :: 4:?
- 36
- 16
- 25
- 49
Explanation:
9 is the square root of 81. Applying this relationship, we can determine that the correct answer is B: 16 since 4 is the square root of 16.
Word-Based Reasoning Questions
Word analogy questions present you with a sequence of words that have a relationship along with a secondary pair that’s missing the connecting word. Your task is to identify the relationship between the two beginning words and apply that in order to fill in the blank. Word-based reasoning questions can have patterns that vary wildly.
Example Question 1:
Turkey:Ankara :: Spain:?
- Los Angeles
- Rio de Janeiro
- Madrid
- Cozumel
Explanation:
Ankara is the capital of Turkey. Using this relationship, we can deduce that the correct answer is C: Madrid.
Example Question 2:
Terracotta:Plant :: Stainless Steel:?
- Pot
- Tire
- Soup
- Pan
Explanation:
Pots (meant for planting) are often found to be made out of terracotta which you then put a plant into. The relationship between these two things, in other words, is that terracotta is the material of the pot used to house a plant. Applying this relationship, we can deduce that the correct answer is C:Soup, as stainless steel pots are meant for cooking.
Letter-and-Number-Based Reasoning Questions
These questions are perhaps the most tricky of the analogy reasoning test as they ask you to identify two different patterns at once in order to fill in the blank. See the example below:
Example Question:
D(15):E(5) :: K(12):?
- L(4)
- M(5)
- C(4)
- L(3)
Explanation:
The easiest way to tackle questions such as these is to look at them in terms of two separate patterns. This makes them much easier to digest. Looking at the letter pattern first, we know that E is one letter in the alphabet away from D if we go towards the end. If we apply this pattern to the answers, we know that we’re looking for an answer with the letter L in it. Now, turning to the number pattern (15 is to 5 as 12 is to . . .?), we can deduce that 15 divided by 3 is 5. If we apply that pattern to our answers, we know we need the number 4 as that’s the result of 12 divided by 3. If we combine those two patterns together, we can see that A: L(4) is the correct answer.
Tips for Preparing for the Analogy Reasoning Test
The best thing you can do to prepare for the analogy reasoning test is to take advantage of any and all practice you can get. Question formats vary, and the relationships you must identify vary.
Another tip is to read as much as possible. By doing this, you will passively expose yourself to lots of information that can be helpful in identifying relationships. Things to especially look out for are geographical relevance, capitals of states/countries, titles of monarchs in different countries, common synonyms in the English language, and words that have more than one meaning depending on context. It also wouldn’t hurt to brush up on your basic math skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and square numbers!
Overall, the more you practice, the better of you’ll be when test day arrives.
