How Table Reading works
You get one table for the whole subtest. X values run across the top from −17 to +17 and Y values down the side from +17 to −17, so the table is 35 cells by 35. Each cell holds a two-digit number.
Each question gives an X and a Y. You find where that column and that row meet and choose the number from five options. The values rise smoothly across and down the table, so neighbouring cells hold close numbers, and the wrong options are usually the cells next to the right one.
It is speeded on purpose: at about 10 seconds a question, many people do not reach the end. It counts towards all three rated composites, Pilot, Combat Systems Officer and Air Battle Manager.
A method for finding the cell
Speed comes from doing the same thing every time:
- Read the sign first. Negative X is left of centre; negative Y is below centre. Most slips are a sign misread.
- Find the column first, then run down it to the row. Do not search both at once.
- Use the centre (X = 0, Y = 0) as a landmark and count out from it when a value is near the middle.
- Put a finger or the pencil on the column heading while your eyes run down. On screen, keep the mouse pointer on the column.
- When the right cell is found, compare it with the options rather than reading the options first. They are all close, so reading them first only confuses you.
Worked example
A question gives X = −6 and Y = +11. Go to the column headed −6, six columns left of centre, and run up into the top half of the table to the row labelled +11. Say the cell reads 49. The options might be 47, 48, 49, 50 and 51: the cell itself and its neighbours above, below, left and right. If you landed one row or one column out you would find one of those, and it would look perfectly plausible, which is why checking the headings matters more than checking the arithmetic.
Tips for the real subtest
- Accuracy first, then speed. A fast wrong answer is worth nothing; a slow right one is worth one point.
- If you have a few seconds left, answer every remaining question. Wrong answers cost nothing and blanks are not allowed.
- Practise on a desktop or laptop. The real table fits on a computer screen, and on a phone it has to scroll.
- Practise in short daily sessions. Table Reading improves with repetition more than almost any other subtest.
Practise Table Reading on CogniPrep
Our Table Reading game gives you 40 questions in 7 minutes on one 35 by 35 table running from −17 to +17 each way, with five options per question drawn from the right cell and its neighbours. On a computer the whole table is on screen; on a phone it scrolls with the headings pinned, which is slower. Your result is the number right, split by which quadrant of the table you missed in, compared with other CogniPrep users.