Deductive reasoning test: how it works

A deductive reasoning test hands you some facts and asks one question: what must be true, given only these? You do this all the time without a name for it. Employers test it because it shows whether you can follow rules carefully under time pressure, and SHL and Aon both have tests built around it. This guide shows what the tasks look like, where people lose points, and how to practice.

What a deductive reasoning test measures

Deduction goes from the general to the specific. You are given rules, and your job is to see what they lead to. Here is a simple case:

Everyone who works in the warehouse must wear safety shoes. Amir works in the warehouse. So Amir must wear safety shoes.

If the first two statements are true, the conclusion cannot be wrong. That is what makes a conclusion deductive: it is certain as long as the rules hold.

The hard part is not reading in more than what is there. Compare this one:

Everyone who works in the warehouse must wear safety shoes. Lisa wears safety shoes. So Lisa works in the warehouse.

It sounds reasonable, but it does not follow. Lisa could wear safety shoes for any number of reasons. Deductive test items are full of conclusions like this, ones that feel right and are not supported.

True, False or Cannot say

Our practice tasks use three answers. True means the conclusion follows from the statements. False means the statements rule it out. Cannot say means the statements allow it to go either way.

Everyone on the night shift has a forklift license. Some forklift drivers work weekends. Conclusion: some people on the night shift work weekends.

The answer is Cannot say. The weekend drivers might all be on the day shift, or some might be on nights, and nothing in the statements decides it. Cannot say can feel like giving up, but when the statements leave the question open, it is the correct answer.

A second kind of task gives you conditions about people, times or places and asks what follows: “Ben has his meeting before Emma, and Emma is not last.” These are the same skill in a different form. You build every arrangement the conditions allow and check whether the conclusion holds in all of them.

Deductive and inductive reasoning

Inductive reasoning runs the other way. You see some examples and work out the rule behind them, as in a number series like 3, 6, 12, 24 or a matrix of shapes with one cell missing. That conclusion is likely rather than certain, because a different rule could in principle produce the same start. The guide to the inductive reasoning test covers that side.

Tests often mix the two. If you are not sure which kind you will meet, the logical reasoning test guide gives an overview of the formats employers use.

How SHL tests deductive reasoning

SHL Verify Interactive G+ measures deductive, inductive and numerical reasoning in one sitting. It takes 36 minutes, has at most 24 questions, and adjusts the difficulty to your answers. You get a score for each ability plus an overall score. SHL also has a separate Verify Interactive Deductive test, 18 minutes with at most 12 questions.

SHL describes the deductive part as evaluating arguments, analyzing scenarios and completing scenarios where some information is missing. The tasks are interactive: in the examples SHL shows, you drag tasks into the free slots of a busy day, or drag rank badges onto people from a list of who ranks above whom. SHL’s practice page has a deductive reasoning test in both an interactive and a standard multiple-choice version. More on the format on the SHL test page, and our SHL practice test has scheduling and ranking tasks you answer by dragging.

How Aon tests deductive reasoning

Aon, formerly cut-e, has two short subtests it calls deductive. In gapChallenge (deductive-logical thinking, 6 minutes) you study a pattern in a grid and use logic to fill the empty cell. In switchChallenge (deductive reasoning, 6 minutes) you work out which four-digit sequence gives the right result. Both are short, so speed matters as much as accuracy. The Aon test page lists all the subtests with Aon’s own times, and our Aon practice test includes both formats.

Where people lose points

• Using outside knowledge. If the statements say all managers work remotely, accept it for the task, even if it is not true where you work.
• Mixing up “must be true” and “could be true”. A conclusion that fits the statements is not the same as one that follows from them.
• Skimming the small words. All, some, none and not change the answer. “Some” means at least one, and it does not tell you anything about the rest.
• Reversing a rule. “All A are B” does not mean “all B are A”, which is the Lisa mistake above.
• Spending too long on one task. Aon’s subtests are 6 minutes, so a slow item costs you several others.

How to practice

Practice mostly makes you faster at the format. In a meta-analysis of 50 studies, scores went up slightly on a second attempt, and the gain was largest when the same type of test came back. A few focused sessions go a long way.

Start with the vendors’ own material. SHL and Aon both have practice tasks on their sites, and practicing is allowed. Then use our deductive reasoning practice, which gives you the answer and an explanation right after each task. Our tasks are our own and imitate the task types; we are not connected to SHL or Aon.

When you get one wrong, read the explanation, find the exact word or rule you misread, and then do a few more tasks of the same kind.