Analytical Reasoning Questions-Allocation Problems

Analytical reasoning (games) allocation problems look, at first blush, almost identical to analytical reasoning (games) selection problems. In each type of problem, the examinee is given a list of "players" in the set of conditions and asked to make selections from this list. The quality that differentiates allocation and selection problems, is that analytical reasoning (games) selection problems deal with selecting some players from the larger list provided in the set of conditions and discarding the remaining players. Analytical reasoning (games) allocation problems, however, require the examinee to take the initial list of players and allocate all of the players into different groups. The following examples should demonstrate these differences:

Selection Problem

There are five friends that all live in the same neighborhood. Their names are Amy, Betty, Cathy, Dora, and Eve. Five parties are planned in the neighborhood for the coming season which all of the aforementioned friends can attend subject to the following restrictions…

If Dora attends one of the parties, then which one of the following could be a complete and accurate list of the other friends who could also attend that party?

Allocation Problem

There are five friends that all live in the same neighborhood. Their names are Amy, Betty, Cathy, Dora, and Eve. Two parties, the red party and the blue party, are planned at the same time in the neighborhood. Each of the friends must attend one of the parties. All of the aforementioned friends can attend subject to the following restrictions…

The examinee should notice quickly from the two samples above the distinction that the allocation problem requires the examinee to place all of the friends into one of two groups (the red party or the blue party). From a strategic standpoint, analytical reasoning (games) allocation problems should be addressed in much the same way that analytical reasoning (games) selection problems are approached. This is primarily because both types of questions impose similar demands on the examinee. On the bright side, many examinees favor analytical reasoning (games) allocation problems over analytical reasoning (games) selection problems because of their fully inclusive nature. In other words, the allocation problems tend to have fewer loose ends because everyone in the set of conditions must be accounted for and placed into one of the smaller groups. This can make it easier to check the accuracy of the answer choices once the examinee gets to the point of answering the specific questions attributable to that set of conditions.

Analytical reasoning (games) allocation problems will require the examinee to answer one or more of the following questions:

1. Identify which players must be included in a certain group/category;
2. Identify which players could be included in a certain group/category;
3. Identify which players are ineligible for inclusion in a certain group/category;
4. Determine the number of players that are to be placed in a certain group/category; and
5. Determine which players have to be, cannot be, or could be paired with other specific players.