OLSAT® Question Type: Pictoral Reasoning Questions
/OLSAT® Question Type: Pictoral Reasoning Questions
In this post, we start with an overview of "Pictoral Reasoning" section, which includes 3 question types.
We provide links to sample questions and strategies for each of the 3 question types.
We also provide more general tips and strategies that students can use to perform successfully on the Pictoral Reasoning section of the official OLSAT® exam.
Pictoral Reasoning Question Types: What To Expect?
The purpose of pictoral reasoning questions is to measure a student’s ability to reason their way through non-language based scenarios. These questions are in a visual format, incorporating pictures instead of words.
Students will be expected to find the relationship between elements and/or objects in a pattern, to predict and create what the next level of the pattern will look like, and generalize the rules they discover.
The Pictorial Reasoning section has three types of questions:
| Type | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Picture Classification | A-C | These questions assess a student’s ability to identify what does not belong among a group of objects. A student has to evaluate differences and similarities among the items in order to correctly answer the question. |
| Picture Analogy | A-C | In these questions, students are presented with a 4-box matrix and must identify a relationship between two objects in the first row. The student needs to apply this rule to the second row and choose which object - from the answer choices - completes this second row relationship in the same way. |
| Picture Series | A | In these questions, students must examine a sequence of objects and identify/predict the object that comes next in the sequence according to the underlying pattern. |
Pictoral Reasoning Questions:Tips and Strategies
To prepare for this section, your student will need to work on identifying differences, similarities, relationships, and patterns between images.
Because these questions are not like anything your child has likely studied in school, it is important to consistently work on practice questions to promote confidence and familiarity with the question types. Have your child explain her reasoning for each answer that she selects. If she is wrong, use this opportunity to discuss how to correctly approach and answer the question. If she is correct, reinforce her reasoning and logic.
You can also incorporate test concepts into your everyday life. For example, you can ask your child how two images or objects are similar and different, or you can ask your child how objects are related. Developing an easy understanding of these concepts will be extremely helpful for your child on test day.
Pictoral Reasoning: Sample Questions
Try sample questions from every question type on the Pictoral Reasoning section: Picture Classifications, Picture Analogies, and Picture Series.
What's Next?
Learn more about the other areas of the OLSAT and check out sample questions from OLSAT sections on verbal comprehension, verbal reasoning, figural reasoning, and quantitative reasoning.
If you think you need more information and guidance about the OLSAT, check out our in-depth article on the test, as well as our posts on the verbal and non-verbal section.
Also, learn everything you need to know about other tests that measure a child’s potential to learn in school, like the NNAT or the COGAT.
