How Army Deductive Reasoning works
Two short statements compare three people or things: who is taller, faster or older, or which event came first. You read and memorise them, then continue. The statements disappear and a question appears, such as “Who is tallest?”, with the three names as the answers.
One preparation site shows the question below the statements; accounts of the Army’s own practice put it on the answer screen only. Prepare for the second, where you do not know in advance what will be asked.
How to solve the statements from memory
Build an order while the statements are on screen:
- Put the three on a line, most first: “Leah, Tom, Priya” for fastest to slowest.
- Turn every statement into the same direction. “Priya is slower than Tom” becomes Tom before Priya on a fastest-first line.
- Read negatives carefully: “is not as tall as” means shorter.
- On the question, read the last word first: tallest or shortest, first or last.
- If two names are never compared, you can still answer when the question asks about the one above or below both.
Worked example
The statements are “The parade started after the briefing” and “The inspection was not as early as the parade”. The question is “Which came first?”, with the options Briefing, Parade and Inspection.
The first statement puts the briefing before the parade. “Not as early as the parade” means the inspection came after it. So the line is briefing, parade, inspection, and the answer is Briefing. Had the question asked which came last, the same line gives Inspection.
Tips for the real Deductive Reasoning section
- Practise the wording, not knowledge. Older, heavier, earlier and further all work the same way.
- Expect the question to ask the opposite of the statements: they say “taller”, it asks “shortest”.
- Keep moving. About 50 items in 7.5 minutes is roughly 9 seconds each.
- Wrong answers do affect your score, according to an Army answer, but the Army’s practice advice is still to make your best guess and move on.
Practise Deductive Reasoning on CogniPrep
Our Deductive Reasoning drill runs for 7.5 minutes with no countdown on screen and new items until the time is up. The question appears only after the statements have gone, and harder items use negative wording and orders of events as well as people. Answers carry BARB’s guessing correction, right minus wrong divided by two, and you get a score out of 100 and an estimated GTI. The 7.5 minutes is a preparation site’s figure.