Assembling Objects Study Guide
Assembling objects questions may seem complex, but when employing the right strategies, the problems are logical and solvable. These questions are designed to test your spatial skills, and they come in two types: connecting questions and putting-pieces-together questions. Below is a study guide that explains both of these, as well as tips and tricks to help you find success.
Strategies for Success: Connecting Questions
Connecting questions require you to choose the answer that shows two objects connected at the proper points. It is important to look at 3 things: the shapes of the objects, the points of intersection, and the lines indicating which direction the connection should come from.
Knowing the shapes of the objects is critical to understanding their manipulations in each of the answer options. The shapes may be turned, reflected, or rotated in the answers; they will not appear in the exact position they are shown in the original question. Be wary of mirrored images; these are not the correct answers, but they often look correct. A good rule of thumb is that you can’t mentally rotate an object for it to form the shape it is, then the answer is wrong. It is most likely a reflection of the true image.
Next, the line must intersect at the exact point indicated, and it must be intersected at the angle indicated. If the point is in the center of the square and the question shows a line crossing the square’s side at a 90-degree-angle, then the correct answer also has to have a point of intersection in the dead center of the square and cross the side at a 90-degree-angle.
Strategies for Success: Putting-pieces-together Questions
The putting-pieces-together questions ask you to solve a jigsaw puzzle in your mind. Your task is to take the image of pieces of an object and select the answer that shows how the pieces would look when assembled. These questions take careful attention to detail and mental mapping.
The easiest place to start is eliminating objects that have more (or fewer) pieces than you were presented with. If you were asked to find an object made of two rectangles and two triangles, but one of the answer options forms another triangle, it can be eliminated.
Next, account for all the sides and angles of each piece in the question. Many of the pieces in the answer options will look very similar to the ones in the question, but their angles are different or their sides aren’t the right proportion. The tiny details are what make the difference between the right answer and the wrong one.
If you are comfortable with the speed of your spatial reasoning abilities, try covering up the answer options and putting the pieces together in your mind before answering. This can help you get a good idea of what a right answer will look like before you’re influenced by tempting wrong answers.
Above all, success on the assembling objects questions will come after much practice. Take practice tests to get a feel for the types of objects you’ll see; there’s a learning curve to figuring out these problems, and the more of them you do, the more likely you are to have a handle on the strategies and concepts.