Terminology in Verbal Psychometric Tests
Often text passage in verbal psychometric tests my contain terminology that may not be familiar to number of test takers. Good news is that you don’t have to understand every specific term in the text to correctly answer questions. Remember, verbal reasoning tests do not evaluate your vocabulary attainment but rather they assess how you can evaluate facts from written information. Following sections give few examples to demonstrate this.
Vocabulary attainment for verbal aptitude test
The below passage is about parathyroid disease. This topic may surprise number of candidates who do not have prior knowledge of this subject. They may fear that they will fail to evaluate statement correctly. See for yourself - spend no more than 30 seconds to find the relevant information within the text passage. Once you finish check your answer.
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Hyperparathyroidism is caused by high blood pressure.
To evaluate the statement, you don’t need to have prior knowledge of parathyroid disease and hyperparathyroidism. But rather you need to read carefully in between the lines to find relevant facts. Note that the statement contradicts the information provided in the passage suggesting that high blood pressure does not contribute to causing hyperparathyroidism. You can read and follow up further practice examples in our tutorial on how to interpret passage in verbal test.
Not understanding specific terminology
As indicated above, if you don’t understand vocabulary in the text or you have no grasp of topic you may still stand good chances to answer the statement correctly – so don't give up. Review the below statement and see whether you answered correctly.
Parathyroid glands are located at the back of the thyroid.
If you read the passage carefully you will find that it does not provide any information as to where the parathyroid glands are located. Hence the correct answer must be can’t say. Often, the test publishers incorporate into their assessments statements which cannot be defined to be true or false and number of candidates may get stuck and search for given information or try to interpret unfamiliar terminology for too long just to find that the information is not there. Remember, in verbal psychometric tests if you don’t find supporting facts in a short time mark the question as cannot say and move on. For further reference see tutorial on verbal reasoning mistakes to avoid.
Unfamiliarity with topic
Once more, have a go at below question and allow yourself no more than 30 seconds to evaluate the statement.
Over eighty percent of patients are likely to develop a tumour in more than one of their parathyroid glands.
Be careful on this one, it is indicated that only one out of eight patients would have more than one parathyroid glands developed to tumour that is 12.5 percent approximately 13 percent which clearly contradicts the information given in the statement. Therefore, the correct answer must be false.
Psychometric tests comprising true, false, cannot say questions belong to the group of aptitude tests that assess verbal ability of an individual. To do well in such assessments it is imperative that you undertake thorough course of preparation. Train your brain to spot subtle changes in text and don’t worry about specific topics or vocabulary incorporated into the passage as they may play a little importance in getting the right answer.