Hey everyone and welcome to this video. In this video we're going to be looking at that dreaded
aspect of the UCAT exam - abstract reasoning. When I did my abstract reasoning I got a score of 880.
So hopefully in this video I'm going to give you some tips on how you can maximise your abstract
reasoning score to increase your UCAT score even further. If you want to see more educational videos,
make sure to subscribe to the channel before we go on. So if you're doing a dentistry or medicine
application, you'll have come across the UCAT which is an aptitude test and is a very common
requirement for these types of applications. So one part of the UCAT is abstract reasoning
which is essentially trying to look at your non-verbal and visuospatial reasoning skills.
You're essentially going to be looking at things like pattern recognition and spotting trends
between images that are shown to you. Usually in the abstract reasoning section you get around 55
questions to do in 13 minutes so it only leaves you around 15 seconds per question which is a
really short period of time. So let's get straight into the tips on what you can do to maximise your
abstract reasoning score. Tip number one is learn the question types. There are four main types of
questions that you can be presented with in your abstract reasoning section. So the first
type of question is looking at whether the test shape presented to you fits into Set A, Set B
or neither Set. So essentially in this you're presented with two sets of shapes or patterns and
they will be linked together somehow within their set. You'll then be presented with the test shapes
and you have to decide whether the test shape fits into either of the two sets or doesn't and answer
accordingly. So question type two is a complete the series and in this you'll be presented with
a series of images and there'll be some type of pattern or trend linking them together.
You will then be presented with shapes and you'd have to determine which shape is next in the series
based upon the pattern that you've identified. The third type of question is sometimes referred to
as a 'this is to that' question. In this type of question you're presented with two shapes and
in this, the first shape will have undergone some type of transformation to lead to the second shape.
You need to identify what that transformation is and then apply it to a third shape presented to
you to determine what that would transform into hence why this is referred to as 'this is to that'.
Finally we have the fourth type of question which is a 'best fit' question. This is very
similar to the first type of question where we had a Set A and Set B but in this type of
question we are presented with a series of shapes and we have to determine which of those shapes
fits best into Set A or Set B. My next tip is to look for patterns. So abstract reasoning is
virtually based on pattern recognition and so there is a method called the SCANS method. So
firstly we look at shapes so what shapes are there? Are they the same? Are they different? How
many edges do they have and we look at those properties. Then we look at the colour. So are
certain shapes shaded? Are they white? Does their colour change as we go through the images? Do they
have lines through them? Dots in them? Following colour we also look at the arrangement. So where are
objects within the image? So does an object move from one corner to the next as we go
through the sequence? Or for example is a circle always next to a square or is a diamond always
opposite to a square and this will again be a part of potentially a pattern that you need to pick up.
Next in the SCANS method we have number. So how many shapes are there? Are the number of shapes
changing as we go through? So are they increasing? Are they decreasing? Also how many lines are there
in the box? So again trying to keep track of any particular patterns that you're seeing. Finally we
have S which is size, sides or symmetry. Is there a reflection of images going across a certain line
of symmetry? Identifying any particular pattern here that you can see and if you pick up any
pattern or any potential hint of a pattern any of these aspects make sure you jot it down and
so then you'll be able to apply these very quickly to the questions that you're asked. The next tip
is to make sure you use your introduction time very effectively. So you'll have a bit of time
at the start usually and during this time rather than sitting and waiting for your exam to begin,
use the time to jot down any particular patterns you remember so that again you've got something
to refer to when questions are presented to you. My next tip is to always identify the pattern first
because if you identify the pattern, answering the questions is going to be a lot quicker
If you try to apply each individual shape and try to redo the pattern every time, you're going to
struggle. So first ignore the questions that you're being asked and look at the shapes that are presented
to you and try to identify what the pattern is linking those shapes together. That will make
it a lot quicker when it comes to looking at the questions. Also by looking at the pattern first, you
could almost predict in your mind the answer that you're expecting to see for example if it is those
complete the series type of questions and so then when you're presented with the shape you
know immediately whether it's right or wrong. If you are struggling to pick up a pattern
and you're looking too much at the colours, the shapes etc take yourself a bit further out and
look overall at the image that is presented to you. You may then find something that you weren't
picking up before and this is particularly if you're picking up little rules or patterns that
are only working in a couple of boxes. You may need to look at the bigger picture to identify which
patterns are working over a range of images. Next - take a break if you are stuck. If you're getting
bogged down with trying to identify patterns, take a break and don't dwell on it. Like I said at the
start of the video, you have a very short period of time on these questions so you don't want to
spend too long dwelling on them. Rather you move on to the next question and you start working through
so you don't lose marks later on or you're not rushed later on. You can always flag questions and
come back to them, so at the end of the exam when you're done with the section come back to these
questions and try answering them at this point. Really important though, even if you don't know an
answer and you're running out of time, just guess you're not going to lose any marks and never leave
a question unanswered. My next tip is looking for conditionals or distractors. Distractors are simply
shapes or lines that are put into a question to distract you, so they have nothing to do with the
pattern, they have nothing to do with the answer. Conditionals are essentially characteristics that
impact each other. So for example if you have a shape and the colour changes then it moves position
So those types of factors are conditionals and they work quite well in patterns.
Finally, my biggest tip is to practice. A lot of people say that you can't practice for the
UCAT and I completely disagree with this. If anything, practicing abstract reasoning will
help you identify those patterns as there is a finite number of patterns that they could have
and once you practice abstract reasoning enough, you start to pick up those patterns
very, very quickly and therefore when it comes to your actual exam you can very quickly reel
through those patterns in your head and apply them - this will make answering questions a lot quicker.
There are a huge number of resources online for how you can practice the abstract reasoning
but the two key resources that I would recommend are firstly the 1250 UKCAT question preparation
book but also the UCAT website itself has some practice questions so you can know exactly what
you're going to face when it comes to the actual exam. So if we look at a couple of quick examples.
Here we have a type 1 question. So we have Set A and Set B where we're given a range of images and
we're presented with a test shape and we have to decide whether this test shape belongs in Set A
or Set B or neither. So first thing we want to identify the pattern. So if we look at Set A,
we have these squares with lines going through and a white circle on one of the corners. We then
randomly have these black circles and the shape seems to turn when a black circle is presented. So
if we look at Set A when a black circle presents itself, the main shape rotates clockwise 90 degrees
and if we apply this to each of the squares that is indeed what happens. If we then look at Set B,
the pattern's probably going to be similar so again we have a similar main shape and we have
a black circle again the black circle when this is presented the main shape rotates. However in this
case it rotates anti-clockwise 90 degrees. So Set A is clockwise 90 degrees, Set B is anti-clockwise 90
degrees. If we then look at the test shape we look at the first main shape a black dot is presented
and the next main shape is rotated clockwise by 90 degrees and again there is immediately a black dot
again and the test shape rotates 90 degrees clockwise. So based on the information that
we found out, this would most likely belong to Set A. And let's look at another example.
Here we're presented with one of those type 3 questions a 'this is to that' question. So
we have two shapes on the top line. The left-hand side shape is transformed to the right-hand side
shape so we can see that there's a triangle, there's a c-shaped line present as well
and if we look at the transformation the triangle seems to go to the opposite segment
and the c-shaped line goes to the segment clockwise to its left. So if we apply this
to the bottom left image, we'd expect the star to go to the opposite side because this is the closed
shape and the open shape, the v, to move to its left by one because it's moving clockwise. So we're
almost assuming that's going to be our answer so let's look at the patterns and see if any of
them match to it and immediately I can see that B follows the rule that we've just applied. As we can
see B is indeed the correct answer. So I hope you found that video useful looking at some key tips
on maximising your abstract reasoning score. If you do have any other questions, please feel free
to contact me and make sure to like, comment and subscribe. Until the next video, take care!