Visual & Critical Reasoning

The ability to actively and skillfully comprehend, analyse, question, and assess ideas and beliefs is referred to as critical reasoning. Dogma is the polar opposite of critical reasoning. Dogma is unquestioned knowledge — knowledge that is accepted without active consideration or examination. Visual reasoning is the process of changing one’s mental representation of an object to arrive at a specific conclusion — for example, visually creating a piece of machinery to test various mechanics.

Tips for visual reasoning:

There is no need for any language or written solutions to answer the visual reasoning problems. Analysing the visual image or explicit patterns can help you find the answer.

You must identify the next figure from the options supplied in abstract visual reasoning questions based on the 4-5 figures presented in the question.

In analogy type questions, you will be given three figures and asked to locate the fourth figure that has a comparable link to the third figure. The relationship between the second and first figures should be similar.

You must determine how the paper will look after a specific fold in paper folded problems.

For figure embedded questions, you must choose an option in which the question figure is totally embedded or inserted using other figures or lines.

Tips for critical reasoning:

Divide the CR text into sections.

Beware of answer options that contradict the core idea presented in the question.

Rewrite passages in simpler language.

Recognize what is being asked.

Critical Reasoning practice Questions:

1. Statement/Conclusion: Chandigarh is a pleasant city.

“Which of the following, if true, would support the preceding statement the most?”

1. There are many great galleries in Chandigarh.
2. Patiala has many great restaurants.

Solution: People are sometimes unsure whether they should consider whether the options are true or not. You are not required to do so. You can suppose that all of the possibilities are correct. You don’t have to wonder whether Patiala really does have a lot of fantastic eateries. Option I is clearly the correct response because it is the only one that is applicable to Chandigarh.

2. Statement:Yesterday’s severe accident, in which a person was run down by a car, has once again brought attention to the worst state of roads.

Conclusions/Inference:

1. The accident that occurred was fatal
2. Several accidents have occurred as a result of the poor quality of the roadways.

Solution: Both I and II are correct answers because both may be deduced or driven from the given statement. The essential terms for the first conclusion are ‘run down,’ whereas the key words for the second conclusion are ‘unsatisfactory state of roads.’

3. Statement: Jade plant has thick leaves and it requires little water.

Conclusions/Inference:

1. all plants, with thick leaves, require little water.
2. The jade plant can be grown in areas where water is scarce.

Solution: Only II should be chosen because I refers to all plants, whereas only the Jade plant is mentioned in the provided statement.

Statement:  The best evidence of India’s glorious past is the growing popularity of Ayurvedic medicines in the west.

Conclusions/Inference:

1. Ayurvedic medicines are not popular in India.
2. In India, allopathic drugs are more popular.

Solution: Because both I and II cannot be driven out of the given statement, the answer option in this situation will be ‘none of the conclusions can be reached.’ Statement I contradicts the previous statement, and Statement II is out of context.

Visual reasoning practice questions:

Question 1: Seeta and Reema are sitting in a garden at 4 p.m., facing each other. Which way is Seeta facing if Reema’s shadow falls behind her? 

Solution: If we draw directions based on the information provided, the Sun is in the west in the evening. As a result, the East is cast in shadow. Reema’s shadow has been following her since then. It suggests that Reema is facing the west. Seeta will face East because she and Reema are facing each other. 

Question 2:  In the morning a guy walks X km North, takes left and walks 3 KM, takes left and walks 5 KM, takes left and walks 5 KM and finally takes a right and walks 4 KM. Now his shadows are exactly pointing towards his initial position. What is the value of X?  

Solution: If we sketch the directions, we obtain X = 5 + 4 = 9 kilometres. As a result, the right response is 4. 

Conclusion:

Students use visual reasoning to solve problems by assessing, processing, and manipulating visual data. Students can solve difficulties by mentally recalling the relative location of objects and patterns. Critical reasoning entails systematically identifying, analysing, and addressing problems. Statement and Argument, Statement and Assumption, Statement and Conclusion, Statement and Course of Action, Cause and Effects, and so on are all key chapters in critical reasoning.