8.5 Diagramming Simple Conditions

Turn Rules Into Small Maps

A diagram is a short visual version of a rule — an arrow, a checklist, or a two-column note. Its only purpose is to keep the rule from slipping out of mind while you weigh four answer choices. It is not art, and it is not an official source; it is a memory aid that must mirror the rule precisely.

Deductive Reasoning shares the Section III time block with Written Comprehension, Written Expression, and Inductive Reasoning. Because that time is shared, your diagram must be fast. If sketching it takes longer than carefully rereading the item, skip it. Most CJBAT rules need only a few symbols.

Three Quick Diagram Forms

Arrows capture if/then direction. For a rule like "If a report is incomplete, the supervisor returns it," write: incomplete report -> supervisor returns it. The arrow points one way, reminding you not to reverse the rule (returning a report does not prove it was incomplete).

Checklists capture multi-condition "and" rules. For "An officer may release evidence only if it is logged, photographed, and signed out," draw three boxes: [ ] logged [ ] photographed [ ] signed out. The release is authorized only when all boxes are checked.

Columns capture separate categories or tracks. When a rule treats two groups differently, a side-by-side note prevents you from carrying a condition into the wrong group.

Worked Example: Chaining Conditions

Some items hide a chain, where the result of one rule becomes the condition of the next. Diagramming the chain prevents you from skipping a link.

Rules: (1) If a recruit fails the physical assessment, the recruit is assigned to remediation. (2) If a recruit completes remediation, the recruit may attempt the reassessment. (3) Only a recruit who passes the reassessment continues to the next phase. Facts: Recruit Owens failed the physical assessment and completed remediation. The prompt does not say whether Owens passed the reassessment.

Diagram the chain: failed -> remediation -> (complete) -> may reassess -> (pass) -> next phase. Owens has moved along the chain to may attempt the reassessment. But the final link — passing the reassessment — is not established by the facts. So the only supported conclusion is that Owens may attempt the reassessment; you cannot conclude Owens continues to the next phase, because the prompt never says he passed. The diagram makes the missing link obvious.

Diagram carefully:

• Keep the original rule's wording in mind beside your sketch.
• Draw arrows only in the direction the rule states.
• Use checkboxes when every condition must be met.
• Use columns when categories or tracks differ.
• For chains, draw every link and stop where the facts stop.
• Add no facts to the diagram that the prompt did not give.

If your diagram seems to conflict with the prompt, the prompt controls — redraw the diagram, don't bend the rule. A good diagram is simply the rule preserved in a smaller, faster form.

Grids For 'Who-Gets-What' And Truth Tables For Yes/No

Two more diagram forms handle the trickier deductive items efficiently. The first is a grid (matching) chart for prompts that distribute several outcomes across several people, items, or categories. The second is a mini truth check for prompts that hinge on a single condition being met or not.

Use a grid when a prompt assigns attributes. Suppose three recruits are each assigned to one station, and the rules say "Adams is not at the range," "Brooks is at the classroom," and "each recruit is at a different station." A small three-by-three grid lets you mark Brooks at the classroom, eliminate the classroom for Adams and Carter, mark Adams off the range, and deduce by elimination that Adams is at the gym and Carter is at the range. Without the grid, holding three constraints in memory invites error; with it, the answer falls out mechanically.

Use a quick yes/no check when a prompt turns on whether one condition holds. Lay the condition against the result: if the condition is met, mark the result that follows; if it is not, mark that the result is not triggered. For "a pass is valid only if signed," an unsigned pass is simply invalid — one line of reasoning, no chart needed.

A short menu of when to use each tool:

• Arrow — a single if/then rule; track direction.
• Checklist — one rule, several 'and' conditions.
• Columns — two categories or tracks treated differently.
• Chain (A->B->C) — results that feed into later conditions.
• Grid — several outcomes matched across several subjects.
• Yes/No check — one condition decides one result.

The meta-rule for all of them is the same: a diagram only ever records the prompt's information in a more scannable shape. It never adds, never reverses, and never outranks the printed rule. Choose the lightest tool that fits the item, draw it in seconds, and let it carry the constraints so your attention stays on selecting the conclusion that must follow. Under the shared Section III clock, the candidate who diagrams efficiently spends thinking time on the logic rather than on re-reading the same constraints three times.