How to improve at thinking skills

Two halves: critical thinking and problem solving

Critical thinking questions give a short argument and ask you to draw a valid conclusion, identify an assumption the argument relies on, spot a flaw in the reasoning, or judge whether new evidence strengthens or weakens it. Problem solving questions are logic, numerical and spatial puzzles — finding a procedure, identifying a pattern, or working out an arrangement.

For critical thinking: stay inside the text

Only what the argument actually says counts. A conclusion must follow necessarily from the statements; an assumption is the unstated thing the argument needs to be true. Beware options that are true in real life but go beyond the argument — those are the classic traps.

Spot the common flaws

Many flaw questions reuse a handful of errors: treating correlation as cause, generalising from one example, or assuming that because a rule works one way it works in reverse. Learning to name these makes them quick to spot.

For problem solving: work systematically

Lay out what you know, eliminate impossibilities, and test options against the clues. For spatial questions, sketch or visualise the shape step by step rather than guessing.

Practise the right way

• Do mixed sets so both halves stay sharp.
• After each wrong answer, explain why the right option is forced.
• Build a short list of the reasoning flaws you keep missing.