NNAT Test-Taking Strategies 2 ā Questions and Answers
Question 1: When approaching a Pattern Completion question on the NNAT, what is the most effective first step?
- Examine each answer choice before looking at the pattern
- Study the overall design to identify the repeating rule before looking at answer choices (Correct answer)
- Choose the answer that looks most colorful or detailed
- Guess quickly and move on to save time
Correct answer: Study the overall design to identify the repeating rule before looking at answer choices
Identifying the overall design rule first lets you predict what the missing piece should look like before checking the answer choices.
Question 2: If an NNAT matrix shows shapes rotating 90 degrees clockwise with each step, what rule should guide your answer selection?
- Choose the shape that is the largest in the answer set
- Choose the shape that has changed color relative to the others
- Choose the shape that continues the same 90-degree clockwise rotation (Correct answer)
- Choose the shape that is a mirror image of the first cell
Correct answer: Choose the shape that continues the same 90-degree clockwise rotation
Continuing the established rotation rule is the key strategy for rotation-based NNAT patterns.
Question 3: How should you handle a shading pattern you notice in an NNAT matrix?
- Ignore shading and focus only on shape type
- Track shading changes systematically across rows and columns to find the rule (Correct answer)
- Always choose the answer with the darkest shading
- Always choose the answer with no shading at all
Correct answer: Track shading changes systematically across rows and columns to find the rule
Shading patterns follow rules just like shape changes, so tracking them systematically reveals the correct answer.
Question 4: For a Serial Reasoning question on the NNAT, which approach is most reliable?
- Focus only on the last row of the matrix
- Pick the answer that looks most similar to the first cell
- Analyze both rows and columns to identify a rule that holds consistently throughout the entire matrix (Correct answer)
- Choose the answer with the most complex design
Correct answer: Analyze both rows and columns to identify a rule that holds consistently throughout the entire matrix
Serial Reasoning requires finding a rule that works consistently across all rows and columns, not just one direction.
Question 5: What is the best approach when you encounter an NNAT question that seems unusually difficult?
- Immediately leave it blank and never return to it
- Keep working on it exclusively until you arrive at a certain answer
- Ask the proctor to clarify the pattern for you
- Use process of elimination to remove wrong answers, then make your best guess and move on (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Use process of elimination to remove wrong answers, then make your best guess and move on
The NNAT has no wrong-answer penalty, so eliminating obvious distractors and guessing improves your expected score.
Question 6: When two NNAT answer choices look nearly identical, what is the most effective strategy?
- Always pick the first of the two similar choices
- Choose the answer with more symmetry between the two
- Skip the question since both answers seem equally valid
- Go back to the pattern rule and find the one subtle detail that matches exactly (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Go back to the pattern rule and find the one subtle detail that matches exactly
Similar-looking distractors are intentional; the exact pattern rule reveals which subtle feature makes one choice correct.
Question 7: When an NNAT pattern shows a consistent relationship between size and position, what is the correct strategy?
- Track how size and position change together across the matrix to predict the missing piece (Correct answer)
- Ignore size changes and focus only on shape orientation
- Ignore position shifts and focus only on color differences
- Assume size patterns are always unrelated to position changes
Correct answer: Track how size and position change together across the matrix to predict the missing piece
Multiple attributesāincluding size and positionācan combine into one pattern rule on the NNAT.
NNAT Test-Taking Strategies 2
When approaching a Pattern Completion question on the NNAT, what is the most effective first step?