Logic Study Guide for the Wonderlic Personnel Test

Spatial Relationships

We encourage you to read through what we have to say about this type of question before deciding to skip them on the test. You will probably find that you are either really good at this type of visual stuff or that it totally boggles your mind. If it’s easy for you, go for every one of this type of question on the Wonderlic® test. If not, just know that as soon as you see the little nine-box shape, you’ll need to move on to the next question and waste no time.

This is what you’ll probably see: a shape that looks like a tic-tac-toe grid, with various boxes of three colors. Then, there will be five similar grids with only some of the boxes in color. Your job is to find the three grids that, when stacked on top of each other, would form the example grid. Only boxes of the same color can be stacked on top of each other. Sound complicated? It may be, or it may be easy for you. Let’s try:

It’s probably easier to find the two choices that would not work because the other three will be the correct answers. Take one color at a time and look for grids that have that color in the wrong place. As you find each of the two incorrect ones, jot down their letter on your scratch paper. When you’ve found two incorrect, you can mark the other three as correct.

Looking at the red boxes in this example, you can see that they are in the left two positions on the top row. These are the only boxes that should be red. Check out the five choices and you will see that choice B has a red box in the lower right corner, so choice B is wrong. Remember that you don’t have to consider it anymore, so you’ll just be scanning choices A, C, D, and E…saving time.

Next, look at blue boxes. The blue boxes in all of the choices are either in the center or bottom middle spot, so they are all in the correct place.

Finally, check out the gray boxes. They should occupy the bottom two in the left column and all three places in the right column—and that is all. But there is a gray box in the center of choice E, so it is also incorrect.

Thus, you have your correct answers: choices A, C, and D.

Be sure to give at least a few of these a try on a practice test and see if following this procedure allows you to answer this type of question in 14 seconds or less. If not, you might want to pass when you see them on the actual test.

We have also seen one example question that required the test-taker to find the group of small shapes that could be used to construct one larger shape, like a square. This type of question is also possible on your test. You could practice this type by attempting similar activities in online games and by creating a paper shape, cutting it into pieces of smaller, regular shapes, and reassembling it.

Shape Patterns

If you took a look at one of these questions, you might instantly say, “No way!” to yourself. There is a chance that other shapes will be used, but for most of these questions, they usually look like a row of divided circles with no perceivable differences. But take a closer look.

Each circle is divided into eight parts, mostly by dotted lines. However, one of the division lines in each circle is solid black, and one is solid gray. The difference can be hard to see, but if you’re good at spotting details like these, this kind of question could earn you some quick points.

Here is how one of these questions might look:

Question:

The question is enclosed in the box, with the five answer choices underneath. Your job is to find which of the answer choices would go in the last place in the top box of circles. This isn’t as hard as it sounds if you focus on one division line at a time.

Look at the black line first and see what it does in each successive picture. It moves two spaces clockwise. So that’s what it will do in the fourth space. You can now rule out any answer choices that do not have the black line in the middle of the bottom left quadrant—in this case, the first and third choices. Now you just have to consider the second, fourth, and fifth choices. (This is another case where it may help to mark A-E on your scratch paper and mark out the ones you’ve eliminated as you go.)

Next, follow the gray line through the pictures from left to right and see what it does—it moves three spaces clockwise each time. That’s what it will do in the last picture and it will end up in the middle of the bottom right quadrant. Only one of the remaining answer choices shows that—the fourth choice from the left, so that’s your answer.

Like with all of the question types on this test, try a few in practice tests to find out if you can answer them quickly enough to try them on the test. If your mind is still boggled, skip them and save time.

3D Shapes

The final type of logic question asks you to visualize putting a box together from a flat shape. You’ll have to imagine where a corner of the flattened box will end up once it is assembled. The flat shape will not always be constructed in the same manner, but it will always contain six squares and will form a cube, when assembled.

Here is an example:

If you folded this figure into a closed cube, the X would touch which shaded corner?

There is only one easy elimination here: If you can determine that the X is on a square that is exactly two squares away, you know it will not touch any part of that square because those two squares will form the “top” and “bottom” (opposite sides) of the cube. In this case, X and the side with C on it will never touch.

Other than that, it will be a matter of visualizing how the cube will go together and which of the other choices it will touch, once assembled. Try a few of these and, if you can figure out a quick strategy, try them on the actual test. If these are really hard for you, skip them on the test to save time for questions you can quickly answer.