Rule type in matrix reasoning tests

Arithmetic on the number

How the rule works

The number of figures in the third cell is the numbers in the first two added together, or one taken from the other. Two plus two is four, four minus one is three. The rule holds in every row, and sometimes in every column.

It differs from step by step change in that the step is not constant. Two, two, four is no steady increase, but it is a sum. If the numbers stand still until the third cell jumps, it is arithmetic.

Solved example

The bottom right cell is the answer, marked. The explanation below the matrix is the same text the app gives.

Rules in the example

  • The number of dots on the other side of the line in the third cell is the difference between the first two: 3 − 2 = 1. This holds in every row.
  • Everything else is the same in every cell.

Level 2 in the app. The same example is shown in the app after a wrong answer on this rule. Rules in the example: Arithmetic on the number.

How to recognise it

  1. Count the figures in every cell and write the row as three numbers.
  2. Test whether the third number is the first two added. Then test subtraction.
  3. The same operation must hold in every row. Work out the empty cell from the last row.

More about the format: what a matrix reasoning test is and how logical reasoning tests are used in recruitment.

Practise for real.

In the app the tasks are generated on the phone and the answer explains every rule. Five tasks are free; the rest unlocks with a one-time purchase.

Get it on the App Store

Requires an iPhone with iOS 17 or later.