PI - Cognitive Assessment Identifying Common Features 2 — Questions and Answers

Question 1: Which feature is shared by all three shapes: a blue triangle, a blue square, and a blue hexagon?

Number of sides
Shape type
Color (Correct answer)
Size

Correct answer: Color

All three shapes are blue. They differ in the number of sides and shape type.

When identifying common features, you must find the attribute shared by every item in the set. The triangle has 3 sides, the square has 4, and the hexagon has 6 — so number of sides differs. Shape type differs by definition. The one constant property is color: all three are blue. On the PI Cognitive Assessment, quickly scanning for the unchanging attribute is key to answering efficiently.

Question 2: Given three figures — a large dotted circle, a small dotted triangle, and a medium dotted square — what is their common feature?

Shape
Size
Pattern (dotted) (Correct answer)
Number of sides

Correct answer: Pattern (dotted)

All three figures have a dotted pattern. They differ in shape and size.

The three figures differ in both shape (circle, triangle, square) and size (large, small, medium). However, they all share the same internal pattern: dotted. This is the common feature. The PI assessment frequently tests your ability to isolate the shared attribute from multiple varying dimensions.

Question 3: Three sequences are shown: 2-4-6, 10-12-14, 8-10-12. What rule do all three sequences share?

Each number is even
Numbers increase by 2 (Correct answer)
All numbers are under 20
First number is even

Correct answer: Numbers increase by 2

In all three sequences, each subsequent number increases by 2. While all numbers happen to be even, the common structural rule is the increment of 2.

The question asks for the common rule or feature. While it's true that all numbers are even and under 20, those are observations about individual numbers. The structural rule — the relationship between consecutive numbers — is that each increases by exactly 2. This is the defining pattern that all three sequences share. The PI assessment values identifying the underlying rule over surface observations.

Question 4: What common feature connects: a clock face, a pizza, and a bicycle wheel?

They are all food items
They all have a circular shape (Correct answer)
They all have numbers
They all spin

Correct answer: They all have a circular shape

All three objects are circular in shape. Only the pizza is food, only the clock has numbers, and only the wheel typically spins.

Identifying common features among dissimilar objects requires abstract thinking. A clock face is round, a pizza is round, and a bicycle wheel is round — the shared physical attribute is their circular shape. The distractors each apply to only one or two items: only pizza is food, only clocks reliably have numbers, and while wheels and clock hands move, a pizza does not spin.

Question 5: Three figures each contain an inner and outer shape. Figure A: circle inside square. Figure B: triangle inside hexagon. Figure C: square inside octagon. What is the common feature?

The inner shape always has fewer sides than the outer shape (Correct answer)
All inner shapes are curved
All outer shapes have 4 sides
The shapes are always the same color

Correct answer: The inner shape always has fewer sides than the outer shape

In each figure, the inner shape has fewer sides than the outer shape: circle (0) < square (4), triangle (3) < hexagon (6), square (4) < octagon (8).

The common structural rule is that the inner shape always has fewer sides than the outer shape. Circle inside square: ~0 < 4. Triangle inside hexagon: 3 < 6. Square inside octagon: 4 < 8. Additionally, the outer shape has exactly double the sides of the inner shape (if we assign 2 to the circle), but the core common feature is the 'fewer sides inside' rule.

Question 6: What do the numbers 16, 25, and 36 have in common?

They are all even numbers
They are all prime numbers
They are all perfect squares (Correct answer)
They are all divisible by 4

Correct answer: They are all perfect squares

16 = 4², 25 = 5², 36 = 6². All three are perfect squares. Note that 25 is odd, so they're not all even, and 25 is not divisible by 4.

A perfect square is a number that can be expressed as an integer multiplied by itself. 16 = 4×4, 25 = 5×5, 36 = 6×6. They are not all even (25 is odd), not prime (all have factors), and not all divisible by 4 (25 ÷ 4 = 6.25). The common feature is being perfect squares of consecutive integers (4, 5, 6).

PI - Cognitive Assessment Identifying Common Features 2

Which feature is shared by all three shapes: a blue triangle, a blue square, and a blue hexagon?