What do you do when you can’t find the pattern quickly?

This is an important consideration in the exam when you cannot identify a quick and logical relationship. In such an instance what this means is that some numbers are not what they appear to be.

For example, in the following sequence:

2313 3132 1323 3231 ?

If you try taking the difference between the numbers, this would be incorrect - not to mention wasting valuable time. The reason is because 2313 is not two thousand three hundred and thirteen. It is simply a group of numbers put together. There is no meaning to the group itself. What you will notice from the above sequence is the numbers moves on a rotating basis. With 2313, the 2 will move to the back of the group, which gives the second number 3132 and so forth.

In this case, even though there is use of numbers, a tradition ‘relationship or number pattern’ may not exist as some of the numbers may be ‘dead’ numbers in that they are not numbers with a relationship, but numbers which may be there as a lone figure, but happened to be grouped in a larger ‘number’.

So… using the example, what should the missing number be?

Given the logic explained before, the 3 in 3231 should move to the back, which becomes 2313. So… the missing number is 2313.

Another common pitfall could be naturally assuming that a number such as 111 is one hundred and eleven when could just be three separate ones or a one and an eleven grouped together.

Some patterns also don’t tend to follow the next number and may be irregular.

Types of irregular patterns are:

• Constants or ‘dummy’ numbers – they don’t change and are there as ‘tricks’.
• Addition, subtraction, multiplication or division of the previous two numbers.
• Every second or every third number moving by a different pattern.

Constants or dummy numbers were the ‘trickier’ number series in general ability.

In fact, our expert heard a man coming out of the test room saying “I was stumped with some of those number patterns…”, the ones that were tricky where the ones with dummy numbers.

Like this simple example:

1 3 2 3 3 3 4 3 5

1 2 3 4 is every second number and the three is a constant. That means that three is a number which always occurs at every second spot. But it’s tricky because the initial thing many people do is to go +2 -1… as a pattern to link 1 to 3 and 3 to 2.

Key Rules to remember:

• If you cannot quickly find a pattern, consider the irregular patterns that are possible. Go through the list to see if any of these would fit:
• Is it a genuine number or a character in a number?
• Are there constants or “dummy” numbers that appear every nth time?
• Is it an addition, subtraction, multiplication or division of the previous two numbers?
• Is every second or every third number moving by a different pattern?

Now it's time to do your assignment.

1. Download the assignment questions here.
2. Print it out or if you want to do it electronically, save it.
3. Complete the questions to it.
4. Then check the solutions on the video below. The answer key is also on the final page of your downloaded assignment questions.

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