UMAT

[nira]

hey everyone. just wondering how you would tackle a queestion like. pick the middles are sorta my worst so any help with greatly appreciated. thanks again

 

[sht]

I think it is D.

Pretty tough. I would pick a square and try to find a simple pattern. E.g. I saw a simple upward 1,2,3,4 pattern starting at the lower left. Then try and confirm the pattern with other squares. Pretty tough under time pressure though.

EDIT: FYI I think the full pattern is EBDAC

 

[frootloop]

Is this a screenshot of copyright prep course material? (I ask because of the watermark on it)

 

[nira]

Is this a screenshot of copyright prep course material? (I ask because of the watermark on it)

it's a trial exam available for free online.

 

[frootloop]

it's a trial exam available for free online.

Cool cool, just making sure. Maybe edit a link to it into your OP just to the site anyway to be safe.

 

[hugh mungus]

Usually you would have blocks moving in a pattern, e.g. down one, left one, or up columns and then continuing to the bottom of the next by a sequential amount, or similar. In this case just looking for blocks moving in common patterns I noticed that there is an outlying block (the one in the rightmost side of a)

Applying a simple pattern of two left one down we can work it out so that it is in fact cadbe.

Ignoring these blocks now try and find another pattern for the remaining pair of blocks to confirm this is in fact the right sequence.

It's a good start to find obviously outlying elements to try to spot out a pattern

 

[nira]

Usually you would have blocks moving in a pattern, e.g. down one, left one, or up columns and then continuing to the bottom of the next by a sequential amount, or similar. In this case just looking for blocks moving in common patterns I noticed that there is an outlying block (the one in the rightmost side of a)

Applying a simple pattern of two left one down we can work it out so that it is in fact cadbe.

Ignoring these blocks now try and find another pattern for the remaining pair of blocks to confirm this is in fact the right sequence.

It's a good start to find obviously outlying elements to try to spot out a pattern

oh wow thank you so much .
out of curiousity what the most common patterns or the ones i should know if in the pick the middle questions.
i know the 1,2,3,4
1 at a time
2 forward , 1 back
2 forward, 1 forward
and as you mentioned
2 left one down

are their anymore of these i should know of. or is it something you figure out on the spot

thank you once again

 

[hugh mungus]

oh wow thank you so much .
out of curiousity what the most common patterns or the ones i should know if in the pick the middle questions.
i know the 1,2,3,4
1 at a time
2 forward , 1 back
2 forward, 1 forward
and as you mentioned
2 left one down

are their anymore of these i should know of. or is it something you figure out on the spot

thank you once again

Usually the difficulty for these questions isn't so much complex patterns, but because of the nature of grid questions being either moving across a plane (like this problem), up or down columns, even each of the 5 combining to form a large image, you are required to both work that out and also find the pattern. For that reason I think you will be fine knowing the basic ones, e.g. 1 movement in one direction + two in another, or 1*3, 1*4, 2*2, probably not much more than that.

It may also be something like one up, one across, alternating, or one up, two across alternating , etc..

I wouldn't expect many of this specific type of question, maybe one or two tops. You can use other patterns you are in different types of questions here too.

If you are struggling to find the answer quickly, write in the positions of bcde superimposed onto the grid of a. That way you can easily try and form patterns instead of glancing across the whole lot which is quite confusing at first

Edit: I remember encountering some questions which appeared the same as this which in fact had no pattern whatsoever, and was simply the amount of blocks touching the edge of the grid, increasing by one each time, or the amount of blocks touching other blocks. It's important to work out what pattern you need to be searching for before you try and find it or you may waste time

 

[nira]

Usually the difficulty for these questions isn't so much complex patterns, but because of the nature of grid questions being either moving across a plane (like this problem), up or down columns, even each of the 5 combining to form a large image, you are required to both work that out and also find the pattern. For that reason I think you will be fine knowing the basic ones, e.g. 1 movement in one direction + two in another, or 1*3, 1*4, 2*2, probably not much more than that.

It may also be something like one up, one across, alternating, or one up, two across alternating , etc..

I wouldn't expect many of this specific type of question, maybe one or two tops. You can use other patterns you are in different types of questions here too.

If you are struggling to find the answer quickly, write in the positions of bcde superimposed onto the grid of a. That way you can easily try and form patterns instead of glancing across the whole lot which is quite confusing at first

oh wow thank you so much