Diagrammatic Reasoning Tests

Diagrammatic reasoning tests are closely related to abstract reasoning tests. They are used to select information technology specialists who need to work through complex abstract problems in an analytical way. The questions consist of flowcharts or process diagrams and measure your ability to follow a series of logical instructions or to infer rules presented using symbols.

These types of questions can appear in other types of test but they are particularly suited to information technology jobs because they closely mirror the way in which analysts and programmers approach software design. As such, they could be thought of as a work sample test that was independent of any particular technology or programming language.

Example Diagrammatic Reasoning Questions

In the first example, the diagram shows 'inputs' and 'outputs' in the large boxes. The 'operators' or 'processes' are shown in the small boxes. You need to determine what effect each of the 'operators' or 'processes' is having on the 'input' in order to produce the 'output' shown.

You can then use this information to answer the questions below.

1) What is the output from this process?

2) What is the output from this process?

3) What is the output from this process?

In the next example, the operators are defined in the diagram below. Each operator acts on the figure that it is attached to. The sequence of operations is from top to bottom. Use this information to answer the questions below.

4) Which figure results from the operations shown?

5) Which figure results from the operations shown?

The answers to these questions are given at the bottom of the page.

These sample question papers each contain 35 questions and have a suggested time limit of 20 minutes each. The questions are presented in Letter/A4 format for easy printing and self-marking.

Download Diagrammatic Reasoning Test - Practice Test 1