This video shows how to predict the picture formed when two simple layers are placed on top of each other. Watch an 11+ non-verbal reasoning question solved step by step.
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Turn on captions with the CC button. Jump to any part with the chapter buttons.
Layer one is shaded in the top-left quarter and the bottom-right quarter.
Layer two is shaded in the top-left quarter and the top-right quarter.
The top-left, the top-right and the bottom-right are shaded; the bottom-left stays clear
Only the top-left is shaded; the other three stay clear
The top-right and the bottom-right are shaded; the other two stay clear
All four quarters end up shaded
Answer: The top-left, the top-right and the bottom-right are shaded; the bottom-left stays clear
How you get there
The tiles are see-through except where they are shaded, so a quarter comes out shaded if EITHER layer shades it, and comes out clear only if neither does. Take them one at a time. Top-left: shaded on both, so shaded. Top-right: shaded on layer two only, so shaded. Bottom-right: shaded on layer one only, so shaded. Bottom-left: shaded on neither, so clear.
Why the other answers tempt
"Only the top-left is shaded" is what you get by keeping just the parts the two layers have in common. Stacking is not matching: a mark on one layer only is still there, because the other layer is see-through and hides nothing.
If they are stuck, say this
Work through one region at a time and say out loud whether each layer shades it. Only a region that neither layer touches comes out clear.
Half a rocket is painted. Paint the other half so the mirror line splits it perfectly.
This engine’s own main skill is Symmetry & Reflection. It practises combine visual layers alongside it.
Reflecting across a vertical mirror keeps every row exactly where it is and only flips the columns: a square three steps left of the mirror lands three steps right of it. That is why the rocket keeps its height but swaps its sides. Distance to the mirror never changes - only the direction does.
What to say if they get stuck
A reflection is not a slide. The cell nearest the mirror on the left maps to the cell nearest the mirror on the right.
Work one row at a time. Count how many squares that row sits from the mirror, then count the same number out the other side.
Press and hold the mirror line - it will show you the reflection for a moment.
How combine visual layers differs from the skills beside it
The same exercise practises several skills, and telling them apart is often the difficulty rather than the exercise itself. On this page the skill is: predict the visible result of superimposing two simple layers, and it stops where occlusion rule must be inferable or stated.
Track all marked parts through one reflection. No rotation or attribute change.
Questions parents ask about combine visual layers
What this skill involves, common mistakes and ways to practise it at home.
Predict the visible result of superimposing two simple layers. It is one of 22 named non-verbal reasoning skills in the 11+, in the layer strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.
"Only the top-left is shaded" is what you get by keeping just the parts the two layers have in common. Stacking is not matching: a mark on one layer only is still there, because the other layer is see-through and hides nothing. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.
Point at the next move rather than explaining the whole rule. Work through one region at a time and say out loud whether each layer shades it. Only a region that neither layer touches comes out clear.
The skill map draws the line here: Occlusion rule must be inferable or stated. A question past that line is testing a different named non-verbal reasoning skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.
Use Symmetry Painter, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to combine visual layers, it runs in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.
Non-verbal reasoning is the paper families most often leave until last
A free diagnostic covers matrices, series, odd one out, rotation, reflection and the 3D questions, and shows where the time is worth spending.
