Common Pattern Categories

The single most important thing you can do to improve your Abstract Reasoning score is to learn the pattern categories. Every AR question is built around one or more of these categories. If you have a systematic checklist of what to look for, you can work through it rapidly and identify patterns that would otherwise take minutes of unfocused staring.

This lesson introduces the SCANS framework — a mnemonic that covers the five main categories of patterns you will encounter.

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The SCANS Framework

Shape — Colour — Arrangement — Number — Size

Each letter represents a category of features that test designers use to construct rules. When you look at a set of shapes and cannot immediately see the pattern, work through SCANS systematically.

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S — Shape

Shape-based rules focus on the type of shapes present in each box.

What to Check