CogAT reasoning tasks are organized into verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal batteries. Each battery looks at a different way students recognize relationships and solve unfamiliar problems.
A student’s pattern across the three batteries can be more informative than one overall number. Stronger and weaker areas do not define a child; they give educators and families useful clues about how the student may approach learning.
Verbal
Reasoning with words, language relationships, classifications, analogies, and completion tasks.
Quantitative
Reasoning with numbers, sequences, numerical relationships, and rule-based problems.
Nonverbal
Reasoning with figures, visual patterns, classifications, matrices, and spatial relationships.
Practice the thinking, not a memorized answer
Good practice helps students understand directions and explain why a relationship works. CogAT.org uses original examples rather than copied assessment content. Begin without a timer, discuss the reasoning, and add time limits only after the format feels familiar.
Level note: The exact tasks used can vary by CogAT level and form. Confirm testing details with your school.