Covariation: how the rule works in matrix tests

How the rule works

Two properties are linked: the more figures, the smaller they are, or the larger the figure, the more lines along the edge. The properties need not follow any direction in the matrix; the link between them is the rule.

It resembles a conditional rule but applies to a scale rather than a pair. If you know the number, you know the size. The options in such a task often break the link with a figure that is right in number but wrong in size.

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 figures and their size are linked: the more figures, the smaller they are.
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: Covariation.

How to recognise it

Do two things change at once between cells, without either following the row?
Order the cells by one property. Does the other follow, up or down?
Decide one property in the empty cell and derive the other from the link.

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.