Reasoning, Definition, Questions, Solution and Types

Table of Contents

Reasoning

Logical Reasoning refers to the act of doing the assessment to find out the answer of questions related to it. It needs proper analytical skills to study the situation objectively and carefully in order to reach to some conclusion related to the problem associated with it. It requires basic common sense with the proper skills to judge a situation and to understand its component.

The main purpose behind Logical reasoning tests is to examine the interpretation, decision making and analytical skills of the candidate. It can be analyzed through the situation based questions related to patterns, number sequences, relationships, shapes, etc.

The best way to ace such questions is to practice them as much as possible so that you are able to solve such questions in exam on time. Developing assumptions, evaluating them against established criteria, and eventually judging, all need logical reasoning abilities.

Components of the Reasoning Test

It is consisted of three main components –

Paragraph or Stimulus: You are provided with some sort of information from where the question will be asked, candidate needs to read out the information carefully to understand it and find out the answer of the question that has been asked on the basis of that information. It can be in the code words, paragraph form or in the form of some diagrams or pie charts, you just need to understand the logic behind it to answer the asked questions.
Questions: Just after the data or the statements, question is given. Read the question thoroughly to understand what has been asked and to answer the question on the basis of that.
Right way to solve: As soon as you understand what is the assessor trying to ask with the help of question, try to find the relevant piece of information from the given data. So that you could save time by just reaching to that necessary information and ignoring all the unnecessary data. Otherwise it can be time taking if you don’t just focus on the exact answer to the question.

Types of Reasoning

There are two types of reasoning – Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning. Difference between the two is given below-

Reasoning with words is verbal reasoning:
Candidates are mainly assessed on their ability to understand issues and logic behind it. It is consisted of riddles, spotting letter sequences, cracking codes based on letters and numbers, following written instructions, and thinking about text, spotting words within words or finding a letter to complete two other words analogies, symbols, and other word-based issues. It can be solved using words and letters.
Reasoning without words is Non-Verbal Reasoning: It checks your reasoning abilities with the help of visual representations like images, figures, diagrams and pie-charts. Candidates need to analyze visual material and find appropriate solutions to the questions that are being asked in non-verbal reasoning.

How to Improve Reasoning Skills for Competitive Exams?

No matter in which competitive exams you are appearing for, you will easily find the portion of reasoning test there. It is included to assess the analytical skill and mental alertness of the candidate. How he or she analyzes a problem and how quickly the candidate understands in order to find the answer of the given question.

Following are some tips to help a candidate to improve his or her reasoning skills –

Assess the paper pattern of your exam and try to understand the kind of reasoning questions, that are being asked in your particular exam.
After finding that out, Try to solve similar questions in order to develop speed and understanding.
Don’t forget tot go through the previous year paper and try to solve it just like you would do in the real exam. It will help you to analyze where do you need to improve.
Read the information first thoroughly before reading the question because it’s all about your understanding of the question and how you perceive the given information.
If you feel stuck in any question, don’t waste much time on that particular question. Skip that question and solve another. There is a lot of value of time in the competitive exams. So there is no point of time wastage.
Remain focused while analyzing the data to avoid any sort of ambiguity related to the question.
Participate in public speaking contests such as discussions and one-minute speeches since such activities will help you to brainstorm in a better way and to have a quick assessment of a problem.
You can also try story writing, quizzing, board games, etc. to make your mind think particularly in such similar situations.

Conclusion

With proper practice and strategy you can easily score well in the reasoning portion and that too without wasting much time. Practice as many questions as possible and try to solve every kind of questions so that you could face the questions with the full preparation and confidence.