Last reviewed 22 Sept 2026 · 5 min read
What is being tested
Three related things:
- Visual memory — a figure is shown, then hidden, and must be picked out of a set.
- Visual discrimination — several figures look alike; one differs in a small way.
- Observation — a complex pattern must be matched exactly, or a count made from a busy drawing.
None of it rewards artistic ability. It rewards describing the figure in words and then checking one word at a time.
Encoding a figure in words
Before the figure is hidden, note three or four facts in this order:
- Outline — square, circle, triangle, irregular.
- Contents — how many inner shapes, and what kind.
- Orientation — which way the arrow, notch or shaded part points.
- One odd detail — the dot in the corner, the broken line, the double stroke.
Recalling four words is far easier than recalling a picture, and the fourth word usually decides the answer.
Options in this section are designed so that each wrong one matches the original in one respect. Checking two independent features — say, the number of dots and the direction of the arrow — removes them all.
Scanning a set of options
Do not compare each option with the original in full. Instead:
- Pick one feature and check it across all options; strike out those that fail.
- Pick a second feature and repeat on the survivors.
- Only compare the remaining two option by option.
This turns four full comparisons into six quick glances.
Discrimination: where the difference hides
Differences are almost always in one of these places:
- The number of dots, lines, teeth or arms.
- The direction of an arrow or a slanted line.
- Which part is shaded.
- Whether a line is broken or continuous.
- Whether two lines touch or stop just short.
- The position of a small mark relative to the centre.
Counting under time pressure
When a drawing must be counted — dots, triangles, matches — split it into regions with a pencil line and count region by region, writing the subtotal for each. A single running count over a busy figure is where errors happen.
Worked examples
A figure shows a circle containing two small triangles, the upper one shaded, with a dot outside at the lower right. Which four words fix it?
Solution. "Circle; two triangles; upper one shaded; dot outside, lower right." The last two are what the wrong options will change.
Four options each show a square with arrows. The original had three arrows. Two options show four.
Solution. Strike those two out before looking at anything else, then compare the remaining two on the arrows' direction.
Four figures are identical except that in one the shaded part is the lower half rather than the upper. Which is the odd one?
Solution. The one shaded below — shading is the second place to check after counting.
Three figures show a triangle with a dot; in one the triangle's left side is drawn with a gap. Which differs?
Solution. The one with the gap — a broken versus continuous line is a standard difference and is easy to miss at speed.
Among four otherwise identical figures, one has its internal line slanting the other way. How is it found quickly?
Solution. Check the slant of that one line across all four options at once; the mismatch stands out when the eye compares like with like.
A drawing contains many dots scattered in a rectangle. How should they be counted?
Solution. Divide the rectangle mentally into four quarters, count each, write the four subtotals and add — not one long count across the whole figure.
Two figures differ only in that a line touches the circle in one and stops short in the other. Which detail decides?
Solution. Whether the line meets the circle — contact points are a favourite difference because the eye reads them as the same.
A figure is shown for ten seconds and recalled after two minutes of other questions. What survives?
Solution. The words written or rehearsed — outline, contents, orientation, odd detail — not the visual impression, which fades within seconds.