Counting Elements

Check each figure against the one before it, in this order: 1. Count: does something go up or down by one (lines, dots, sides, petals)? 2. Turn: does the whole figure, or one part, turn by the same angle each step (45 or 90 degrees)? 3. Move: does a part step from corner to corner, clockwise or anticlockwise? 4. Alternate: do two forms take turns, so figure 5 repeats figure 3? 5. Rearrange: in a box of many symbols, do the symbols swap places by a fixed move?

• A series often uses two rules at once on two different parts, such as a count and a turn. Find each part's rule on its own.
• Fast route: once you have one rule, use it to strike options. Often only one option survives, and you never need the second rule.

• Count the element in each figure and write the numbers as a little series: 2, 3, 4, 5.
• Two elements can change at once, one rising and one falling: arrows 1, 2, 3, 4 while stars go 5, 4, 3, 2. Write both series.
• The count can also be the number of sides of a shape: triangle, square, pentagon (3, 4, 5), so next is a hexagon (6).
• If the steps are not equal, read their differences as a number series (1, 2, 4, 7 grows by 1, 2, 3).
• A count that reaches 0 means the element has gone: the next figure shows none of it.
• Fast route: count only in the options. The right one has the next number; most wrong options are one too many or one too few.

• Name the piece added at each step and where it goes: top side, right side, bottom side.
• The order usually follows a path you can name: round the box clockwise, along the top row then down the right side, or row by row.
• For shading, list the cells in the order they turn black: top-left, middle-left, bottom-left, so next comes a cell in the other column.
• A series can also rub out: each figure loses one piece, and the last figure has the fewest.
• Fast route: first strike options with the wrong number of pieces. Then, among those left, check only the position of the new piece.