There are three different question types in section three: next in series, missing segment, and middle of sequence. All three involve a similar approach.
You would not come across these question types on a regular basis in a school setting, and they can appear quite abstract. Some students are able to approach these questions intuitively; for many others it is important to have a practical, methodical approach. Practice can greatly improve performance in section three, as you will be able to identify patterns and question types more easily through repeated exposure.
In each question type, the answer is found by identifying rules or patterns that put the elements into a coherent sequence. Once you have identified these it is straightforward to derive the correct answer.
The approach we suggest is to:
1. Quickly identify what rules or patterns are present in the sequence. Focus on one individual aspect to begin with, as there may be several rules or patterns within each question. When you have identified a pattern/rule see does it fit with the other rules/patterns operating in the question.
2. Test the rules against the answer options to see which one fits logically.
Next in the series: This type of non-verbal reasoning question requires you to work out the item that follows a certain sequence and rule. Questions may have four or five items, with the last item missing. You have five answer options to choose from (A to E). See the example below.
Solution:
Focus on one part of the question at a time. The centre object alternates between vertical, horizontal, vertical. Therefore you would expect horizontal to come next. This rules out B. Secondly, focus on the parallel lines. Between the first and second image they rotate 45 degrees anticlockwise. Likewise, between the second and third images, they rotate 45 degrees anticlockwise. You would therefore expect them to rotate a further 45 degrees anticlockwise. This leaves us with B or E, and, since B has already been eliminated, the answer is E.
Missing segment: This type of question requires you to figure out the rules or follow a pattern that connects the items, then apply the rules or pattern to the answer options and select the option that follows the rules/pattern. Try the example below.
Solution:
For grid questions, look for patterns between the grid segments horizontally, vertically and diagonally.
In this question you would look for movement and location of the black squares within the grid and the number of black squares in each grid segment, trying to establish a pattern.
Looking at movement nothing appears obvious.
Looking at the location and number of black squares in each segment horizontally, the top row is one, four, five. Perhaps the two left segments add to give the right segment. Looking at the bottom row the numbers are four, nine, nine. Therefore the theory of the two leftmost segments adding to give the rightmost segment does not work.
Looking at the location and number of black squares in each segment vertically, the left column from top to bottom is one, three, four. You will also notice that the black squares in the top two segments are all combined in the same locations in the bottom segment.
Perhaps the two top segments combine to give the bottom segment. Looking at the right column the numbers are five, four, nine. The black squares in the bottom segment also correspond to the locations in the top two segments. Therefore the theory of the top two segments combining to give the bottom segment works.
In the middle column you have four, something, nine. Four plus this something equals nine. The middle segment must contain five black squares. To get the location of the squares, in the bottom segment cross out the squares that are present in the top segment, the remaining five squares are the five that must be present in the missing segment. You will find that they match exactly with option A.