Ordering questions are the more ‘difficult’ questions in abstract reasoning. But, with strategic thinking, you’ll be able to masterfully answer these questions.

These questions often ask you to order a series of images (usually the answer options) based on a logical visual order and then select the image that would be in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th place (this would depend on how many options were provided to you).

There are two main patterns that can emerge from ordering. These are:

• Increase to a peak in the middle and then decrease. For this pattern, what you’ll see are two images that are similar and these would form the ends of the ordering (first and last).
• Increase from small to last or decrease from small to last. What you would find is a ‘maximum’ and a ‘minimum’ image and the middle image is the ‘half’ completed image.

To know what strategy to apply, it really depends on what your requested to find.

If you’re requested to find:

• The image in the middle – you would locate two polar ends (the 1st and 5th image) first and these would generally look alike or they are increasing or decreasing in consecutive order.
• The first or last image – this requirement generally implies an extreme (i.e. small to large, minimum to maximum) so you would order accordingly. However, this question is less likely as it is subject to opinion i.e. the pattern could decrease or increase (both are valid).
  

Therefore, to answer these types of questions, you need to:

1. See if two images are similar with one ‘peak’ image, this is usually the image with the most detail or the least detail. The two images would be your polar ends and the’ peak’ image, would be in the middle.
   
2. If you cannot find the above, then see if there is a minimum and maximum image (this is one image that has the least detail and one image that has the most detail), the middle image would be the image that is ‘half-way’ between the two.
   

Because abstract reasoning involves visual pattern detection, let’s apply this to the following question/s.

Example Question/s

Watch video for explanation of the following question/s:

Order the following answer options in a logical sequence and select the figure that would be the middle figure in the logical sequence.

Order the following answer options in a logical sequence and select the figure that would be the middle figure in the logical sequence.

Key Rules to remember

• See if two images are similar with one ‘peak’ image, this is usually the image with the most detail or the least detail. The two images would be your polar ends and the’ peak’ image, would be in the middle.
  
• If you cannot find the above, then see if there is a minimum and maximum image (this is one image that has the least detail and one image that has the most detail), the middle image would be the image that is ‘half-way’ between the two.
  

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