Deductive Reasoning Test with Numbers

This deductive reasoning test with numbers is designed to assess the deductive reasoning skills of the test takers while also evaluating their ability to work with abstract non-symbolic numerical representations.

Using Latin Squares for its exercises, this test intends to assess how well the individual can analyze particular statements, in this case, the specific position of certain given digits in the squares, to draw conclusions.

To further provide a more precise analysis of the test taker’s intelligence skills, instead of being asked to complete the presented grids, the individuals must indicate which number would go into a specific cell. 

This forces them to take a more strategic and logical approach to the grid, to detect the path of least resistance to get to their goal, instead of taking a methodical and more general approach of filling in all the blanks.

Instructions

For each question, you will see a partially completed 4x4 Latin Square. One cell will be marked with a question mark and you must indicate the digit that should replace it. Use the positions of the numbers already in the grid to find the unknown one.

Latin Squares follow a very specific rule: each row and column must contain all the digits from 1 to 4, without any repetitions.

This Deductive Reasoning Test with Numbers contains 10 questions in total. 

Disclaimer:

This test is designed as an entertaining and educational tool. The results do not constitute a psychological or psychiatric evaluation of any kind and may not offer an accurate portrait of the mental fitness of the test taker. We do not guarantee the accuracy of the results and these should not be used as an indicator of the capacities of the individual for a specific purpose.

Responses may be recorded and used for research purposes or to be otherwise distributed. All responses are recorded anonymously. 

About Latin Squares

The concept of Latin Square was developed in 1776 by Leonhard Euler, a Swiss mathematician and physicist, who intended them as a mathematical system to be used in statistical analysis.

Latin Squares were already known by then, but they were defined by a matrix filled with Latin letters (thus the name) to show that it was possible to build a squared table in which every row and column contain all the letters without any repetitions even when the rows and columns intersected. 

Using the principles of Latin Squares, Euler proved that it was possible to replace the letters with numbers, developing a mathematical formula that ensures that the sum of every row and column is always the same.

Sudoku: the game that improves deductive reasoning

If the concept of Latin Squares sounds familiar to you but you have never heard of the term itself, then you might be thinking about Sudoku.

These number puzzles are indeed based on Latin Squares and follow the same rules and principles. The goal in Sudoku is to fill in a squared grid with numbers, making sure that each row and column contains all the digits without any repetitions. In the end, the sum of every column and row must be the same.

For this reason, these puzzles are a good starting point to develop your deductive reasoning and to become more comfortable dealing with numbers and thinking about them as abstract concepts.

The only difference between a Sudoku puzzle and the type of exercises in this Deductive Reasoning Test with Numbers is the division of the grid. While Sudoku’s grids are further divided into groups that play a role in helping players find the position of all the digits, the Latin Squares used in this test follow their basic structure, with no further divisions.