NNAT - Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test — Questions and Answers

Question 1: Three figures are all white (unshaded) four-sided shapes of different sizes. Which answer belongs to the group?

A shaded rectangle
A white circle
A white triangle
A white parallelogram (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A white parallelogram

The group consists of unshaded, four-sided (quadrilateral) shapes regardless of specific type, so a white parallelogram qualifies.

Question 2: Which strategy is LEAST effective when solving a multi-attribute Reasoning by Analogy problem?

Identifying every attribute that changes in the first pair
Guessing based on which answer looks most similar (Correct answer)
Eliminating choices that violate even one identified rule
Checking each answer option against all identified rules

Correct answer: Guessing based on which answer looks most similar

Guessing by visual similarity alone often misses the actual transformation rules and leads to selecting a distractor.

Question 3: A letter F is rotated 180 degrees. What does it look like?

An upside-down and backwards F (Correct answer)
The letter E
A mirror image F
The same F

Correct answer: An upside-down and backwards F

A 180-degree rotation turns the figure completely upside down and reverses its horizontal direction.

Question 4: A horizontal arrow rotates 45° clockwise at each step. Starting at 0° (pointing right), what angle does it show after three rotations?

45° (pointing down-right)
135° (pointing down-left) (Correct answer)
90° (pointing down)
180° (pointing left)

Correct answer: 135° (pointing down-left)

Three 45° clockwise rotations from 0° total 135°, pointing diagonally down and to the left.

Question 5: A shape is rotated 45°. After four such rotations in the same direction, what is the total rotation?

270°
90°
360°
180° (Correct answer)

Correct answer: 180°

Four rotations of 45° each total 4 × 45° = 180°.

Question 6: In a 3×3 matrix, the cell at row 3, column 2 is determined by the row's shape type and the column's fill color. Row 3 uses triangles; column 2 uses gray fill. What is in that cell?

White circle
Gray triangle (Correct answer)
Black square
Gray square

Correct answer: Gray triangle

Row 3 = triangle shape, column 2 = gray fill, so the cell contains a gray triangle.

Question 7: Consider the shapes in the boxes across the top. Do you see how they are tied to one another? Can you discover the solution for the empty box so that the forms in the following row relate to each other in the same manner as the shapes in the top row do?

C
B
D
A (Correct answer)
E

Correct answer: A

The correct answer, A, completes the visual analogy by applying the same transformation observed in the top row to the bottom row. If the first image in the top row transforms into the second by adding a specific element or rotating, then the bottom image must undergo the identical transformation to become answer A. This ensures a consistent relationship across both pairs.

Question 8: A right-pointing arrow rotates 90° counterclockwise at each step. Starting at step 1 pointing right, which direction does it point at step 3?

Left (Correct answer)
Down
Up
Right

Correct answer: Left

Right → up (step 2) → left (step 3), so at step 3 the arrow points left.

Question 9: A triangle has its apex pointing up. After two 180-degree rotations, the apex points in which direction?

Up (Correct answer)
Left
Right
Down

Correct answer: Up

Two 180-degree rotations total 360 degrees, returning the triangle to its original orientation with the apex pointing up.

Question 10: A rectangle shows a diagonal line from upper-left to lower-right in step 1, and from upper-right to lower-left in step 2. What does step 3 show?

Both diagonals crossing (X shape)
Diagonal from upper-left to lower-right (Correct answer)
No diagonal
A circle inside the rectangle

Correct answer: Diagonal from upper-left to lower-right

The diagonals alternate between the two orientations, so step 3 returns to upper-left to lower-right.

Question 11: Three figures each show a pattern of black-and-white checkerboard squares where the top-left square is always black. Which answer fits?

A checkerboard with the top-left square white
A checkerboard with a random starting color
A checkerboard with all squares the same color
A checkerboard with the top-left square black (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A checkerboard with the top-left square black

The fixed rule in this group is that the top-left cell is always black regardless of grid size.

Question 12: Three identical squares are arranged in an L-shape. How many sides of those squares form the perimeter of the combined figure?

6
10 (Correct answer)
12
8

Correct answer: 10

An L-shape made of three squares has a perimeter traced by 8 unit sides, but the outer boundary counts 8 segments — the perimeter is 8 units.

Question 13: Which term describes two shapes that are exactly the same size and shape?

Parallel
Symmetric
Similar
Congruent (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Congruent

Congruent shapes are identical in size and shape, even if they have been rotated or flipped.

Question 14: A sequence shows shapes losing one side at each step: pentagon (5), square (4), triangle (3), ___. What shape logically comes next?

A circle
A hexagon
A line segment (2 sides) (Correct answer)
A pentagon

Correct answer: A line segment (2 sides)

Each step removes one side, so after triangle (3) comes a 2-sided figure: a line segment.

Question 15: What is the next number? 3, 9, 6, 18, 9, 27, __

36
54
12 (Correct answer)
18

Correct answer: 12

Two interleaved sequences: odd positions 3, 6, 9, ... (+3 each) and even positions 9, 18, 27, ... (+9 each); the 7th term is 12.

Question 16: A pattern row shows three versions of the same shape in increasing size: small, medium, ___. What completes the row?

A different shape
Large (Correct answer)
Extra small
Medium again

Correct answer: Large

The serial pattern shows sizes increasing from small to medium to large.

Question 17: A series alternates two attributes simultaneously — size and fill: large-white, small-black, large-white, small-black, ___. What comes next?

Medium-gray
Small-white
Large-black
Large-white (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Large-white

Both size and fill alternate in a 2-step cycle, so position 5 repeats position 1: large-white.

Question 18: Three figures are shapes with exactly three sides and at least one right angle. Which answer fits?

An equilateral triangle (no right angles)
A right triangle (Correct answer)
A quadrilateral with a right angle
A triangle with all acute angles

Correct answer: A right triangle

A right triangle has exactly three sides and at least one 90-degree angle, matching both criteria.

Question 19: In a 3x3 matrix, the number of dots in each cell equals the row number multiplied by the column number. Row 1 col 1 = 1 dot, row 1 col 2 = 2 dots, and so on. How many dots are in row 3, column 3?

9 (Correct answer)
12
6
8

Correct answer: 9

Row 3 times column 3 equals 9 dots.

Question 20: A border pattern around a rectangle uses: square corner → circle → square corner → circle. One circle is missing from the middle of the right side. What fills the gap?

Diamond
Circle (Correct answer)
Square
Triangle

Correct answer: Circle

The repeating unit is square corner–circle, so the gap between two corners on a side must be a circle.

Question 21: In a 3×3 NNAT matrix with one missing cell, where should you focus first to discover the pattern rule?

At the diagonal of the matrix only
At the answer choices to work backwards toward the rule
Only at the row that contains the missing cell
At the complete rows and columns—those without missing cells—to understand the full rule before focusing on the blank cell (Correct answer)

Correct answer: At the complete rows and columns—those without missing cells—to understand the full rule before focusing on the blank cell

Complete rows and columns contain the uninterrupted pattern rule, which you then apply to determine what belongs in the missing cell.

Question 22: A figure reflected across a vertical line — what changes?

Left and right are reversed; top and bottom stay same (Correct answer)
Top and bottom reversed
Everything rotates 90 degrees
Nothing changes

Correct answer: Left and right are reversed; top and bottom stay same

Vertical reflection reverses left-right while maintaining vertical orientation.

Question 23: Each row in a matrix has shapes where the number of sides increases by one from left to right: triangle (3), square (4), pentagon (5). Following this rule, what completes the next row starting with a square?

square, triangle, pentagon
square, square, square
triangle, pentagon, heptagon
square, pentagon, hexagon (Correct answer)

Correct answer: square, pentagon, hexagon

Starting with a square (4 sides), each shape adds one side: pentagon (5), hexagon (6).

Question 24: A shape flips horizontally at every even-numbered step. Step 1 shows an arrow pointing right. What direction does the arrow point at step 4?

Up
Right
Left (Correct answer)
Down

Correct answer: Left

Flipping at even steps: step 1=right, step 2=left, step 3=right, step 4=left.

Question 25: Visual tiles show 4, 9, 16, 25. What pattern connects these numbers?

They double each time
They are prime numbers
They are perfect squares: 2², 3², 4², 5² (Correct answer)
They increase by 5 each time

Correct answer: They are perfect squares: 2², 3², 4², 5²

Each number is a perfect square: 4=2², 9=3², 16=4², 25=5². The next would be 36=6².

Question 26: Each shape in a row has one more dot inside it than the shape before it. The first shape has 0 dots and the second has 1 dot. How many dots does the fourth shape have?

4
3 (Correct answer)
2
5

Correct answer: 3

The count increases by 1 per shape: 0, 1, 2, 3 — so the fourth shape has 3 dots.

Question 27: Identify the next number: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, __

13 (Correct answer)
16
11
12

Correct answer: 13

Each term is the sum of the two preceding terms (Fibonacci sequence): 5 + 8 = 13.

Question 28: A figure shows four arrows: up, down, left, right arranged in a cross. After the image is removed, which direction is MISSING from the cross?

Down
Diagonal (Correct answer)
Up
Right

Correct answer: Diagonal

The cross pattern included only the four cardinal directions, so no diagonal arrow was present.

Question 29: A pattern shows boxes containing X marks that double each step: 1, 2, 4, 8, ___. How many X marks are in the next box?

16 (Correct answer)
6
12
10

Correct answer: 16

The count doubles with each step: 8 × 2 = 16.

Question 30: A figure shows a large hexagon with one triangular piece missing from its edge. Four answer options show triangular pieces of different sizes and angles. Which piece restores the hexagon perfectly?

An equilateral triangle with 60° angles matching the hexagon's edge (Correct answer)
A right-angle triangle
An isosceles triangle with a wide base
A very small equilateral triangle

Correct answer: An equilateral triangle with 60° angles matching the hexagon's edge

A regular hexagon's edge-triangles have interior angles of 60°, so the missing piece must be an equilateral triangle matching that angle.

Question 31: A serial pattern alternates: 1 shape, 1 shape with a line through it, 2 shapes, 2 shapes with a line, ___. What appears next?

3 shapes (Correct answer)
3 shapes with a line
1 shape
2 shapes with two lines

Correct answer: 3 shapes

Each plain/crossed pair increases the count by 1, so the next plain group contains 3 shapes.

Question 32: A pattern shows 1 shape, then 3 shapes, then 9 shapes. Following the same rule, the next figure would contain how many shapes?

81 shapes
27 shapes (Correct answer)
12 shapes
18 shapes

Correct answer: 27 shapes

The quantity multiplies by 3 each time (1→3→9→27), so the next figure has 27 shapes.

Question 33: What number comes next? 2, 4, 8, 16, __

24
18
32 (Correct answer)
20

Correct answer: 32

Each number is doubled, so 16 × 2 = 32.

Question 34: Three figures contain 2 internal shapes, one contains 3. What is the classifying attribute?

Size of figures
Background color
Type of shapes
Number of internal elements (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Number of internal elements

The classification is based on counting internal elements.

Question 35: In a Reasoning by Analogy item, a series of shapes each has one fewer side than the previous (hexagon → pentagon → square). What shape comes next?

Heptagon
Pentagon
Circle
Triangle (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Triangle

Each step removes one side, so after a square (4 sides) comes a triangle (3 sides).

Question 36: A square paper is folded in half and a triangle is cut from the fold. What appears when unfolded?

A circle
A triangle on one side
Two separate triangles
A diamond or rhombus shape (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A diamond or rhombus shape

Cutting from the fold creates a symmetrical shape when unfolded.

Question 37: Three figures each show a pattern where the number of sides increases by one from left to right (triangle → square → pentagon). Which answer continues this group's logic?

A hexagon (following the pentagon) (Correct answer)
A triangle
A square
A circle

Correct answer: A hexagon (following the pentagon)

The side count increases by one each step, so after pentagon (5) comes hexagon (6).

Question 38: Three figures are shapes that appear identical except one has been rotated exactly 180 degrees. Which answer matches this transformation?

The shape reflected across a vertical axis
The shape rotated 90 degrees clockwise
The shape scaled to half size
The shape rotated 180 degrees (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The shape rotated 180 degrees

A 180-degree rotation turns the shape upside-down while preserving its size and all other properties.

Question 39: A triangle (3 sides) corresponds to a pentagon (5 sides) in the first pair of an analogy. Following the same rule, a square (4 sides) corresponds to what?

A hexagon (Correct answer)
An octagon
A triangle
A pentagon

Correct answer: A hexagon

The rule adds 2 sides to the shape, so a square (4 sides) becomes a hexagon (6 sides).

Question 40: A student sees an NNAT Reasoning by Analogy item where the first pair appears to show two identical shapes. What is the most likely explanation?

A subtle attribute like size, shading, or orientation differs slightly (Correct answer)
The test makers made an error
There is no rule — the shapes are truly identical
The question tests whether students recognize that no change occurred

Correct answer: A subtle attribute like size, shading, or orientation differs slightly

On the NNAT, apparently identical shapes typically differ in a subtle attribute such as a slight size change, shade, or orientation.

Question 41: In a row where each shape gains one additional side moving right, the leftmost shape is a triangle (3 sides). What is the shape in the 5th column?

Pentagon (5 sides)
Octagon (8 sides)
Heptagon (7 sides) (Correct answer)
Hexagon (6 sides)

Correct answer: Heptagon (7 sides)

Starting at 3 sides and adding 1 per column: col 1=3, col 2=4, col 3=5, col 4=6, col 5=7 — a heptagon.

Question 42: Which of the following shapes has exactly 6 sides?

Hexagon (Correct answer)
Pentagon
Heptagon
Octagon

Correct answer: Hexagon

A hexagon has exactly 6 sides; 'hex' is the Greek prefix for six.

Question 43: In NNAT Reasoning by Analogy, wrong answer choices (distractors) are primarily designed to:

Always look completely different from the correct answer
Satisfy some but not all transformation rules to trap partial-rule solvers (Correct answer)
Test a student's reading speed
Always be random unrelated shapes

Correct answer: Satisfy some but not all transformation rules to trap partial-rule solvers

Distractors typically satisfy one or more — but not all — of the transformation rules, catching students who stop checking too soon.

Question 44: A matrix's transformation rule is that each row rotates the previous row's shapes by 180 degrees. Row 1 has a shape pointing up-right. What direction does the same shape point in row 3?

up-right (Correct answer)
down-left
down-right
up-left

Correct answer: up-right

Two 180-degree rotations equal 360 degrees, returning the shape to its original up-right orientation.

Question 45: A visual series shows a black dot moving clockwise through the four corners of a square frame: top-left, top-right, bottom-right, ___. Where does the dot appear next?

Center of the frame
Middle of the bottom edge
Bottom-left corner (Correct answer)
Top-left corner

Correct answer: Bottom-left corner

The dot moves clockwise through the corners, so after bottom-right it moves to the bottom-left corner.

Question 46: A pattern card shows stripes alternating black-white-black-white across four columns. What color is the THIRD stripe?

Black (Correct answer)
Gray
White
Both black and white

Correct answer: Black

In the alternating pattern black-white-black-white, the third stripe is black.

Question 47: A shape with exactly 5 sides is called a:

Hexagon
Octagon
Quadrilateral
Pentagon (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Pentagon

A pentagon has 5 sides; the prefix 'penta-' means five in Greek.

Question 48: A clock face is reflected in a vertical mirror. What time does the reflection show if the original shows 3:00?

12:00
3:00
9:00 (Correct answer)
6:00

Correct answer: 9:00

Reflecting the clock face swaps left and right, moving the hour hand from the 3 position to the 9 position.

NNAT - Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test

The NNAT (Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test) is a nonverbal measure of general ability used to identify gifted and talented students in grades K–12. It uses geometric shapes and figures to assess reasoning and problem-solving skills independent of language and cultural background.

Questions

30 min

Time Limit

70%

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