Rule type in matrix reasoning tests

Step by step change

How the rule works

A value changes by the same amount for every step to the right, downwards or both. It can be the number of figures, their size, the number of lines along the edge or how far a dot has moved. The step is always the same: plus one, minus one, one size step.

This is the first rule most people find, and the one that most often hides behind a harder one. In a task with three rules, one of them is often a step by step change, and it can be settled first so the rest becomes easier.

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 size decreases by 1 step to the right and does not change downwards.
  • Everything else is the same in every cell.

Level 1 in the app. The same example is shown in the app after a wrong answer on this rule. Rules in the example: Step by step change.

How to recognise it

  1. Compare cell one and two in the first row. Does something become more, fewer, larger or smaller?
  2. Check that the same step holds from cell two to three, and then downwards in the first column.
  3. Work out the empty cell from the row and from the column. Both must give the same value.

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.