Types of IQ test questions, with examples

Pattern and matrix puzzles

You see a grid of shapes with one piece missing and choose the piece that completes it. The shapes change according to a hidden rule across the rows and columns, such as shading, size, number of shapes or rotation.

Approach: look at one attribute at a time (shape, then shading, then count) and ask how it changes along a row, then down a column.

Number series and number puzzles

You continue a series such as 2, 5, 11, 23 and find the next number, or find a missing number in a grid or in a balance puzzle. Rules include adding or multiplying a constant, squares, cubes, alternating patterns and sums of earlier terms.

Approach: write down the gaps between terms first. If the gaps are not constant, look at the gaps of the gaps, or at multiplying.

Spatial reasoning

These test how well you can picture shapes in your head: a shape rotated or mirrored, a paper folded and punched with holes, or a stack of cubes you must count.

Approach: do not try to hold the whole image. Track a single feature, such as one corner or one hole, through the change and check which option matches it.

Logic and reasoning

You work out what must be true from a set of clues: who sits where in a row, who is telling the truth, what follows from "if" statements, or which conclusion follows from statements about groups.

Approach: write the clues down in short form and test each possibility. Cross out any arrangement that breaks a clue until one remains.

Words and verbal reasoning

You pick the word that completes an analogy, the word that does not belong, the closest synonym or the opposite meaning, or the word that fits a sentence.

Approach: name the relationship between the first pair in your own words, for example "a kitten is a young cat", then apply the same relationship to the second pair.

Try them

The HonestIQ test has 30 questions across all five types, in five short chapters, in English, Hindi and Spanish.