Identify the figure given in the options which when put in place of ? will logically complete the series.

Correct — A. Rule: each box keeps every symbol the box before it held and adds one new one. The additions run left to right along the top row, then straight down the right-hand column.

Box 1 holds @. Box 2 adds *. Box 3 adds %, which fills the top row.
Box 4 has no room left on that row, so = drops into the right-hand column, directly beneath the %.

Box 5 must therefore carry @, *, % and =, plus one symbol not used before, sitting beneath the =.

Option (a) shows exactly that: @ * % across the top, = under the %, and $ under the =.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  This box shows @ * % with a second % beneath. It repeats a symbol instead of introducing a new one, and it loses the = that box 4 had already placed.
• (c)
  All five symbols are here, but the new $ sits at the left of the second row instead of under the =. Additions have been moving down the right-hand column since box 4.
• (d)
  A second @ appears under the %. Like option (b) it repeats an existing symbol and drops the =, leaving four symbols where box 5 needs five.

Symbol-accumulation series are read on two axes at once: what is added and where it goes.

What is added: one new symbol per box, everything earlier retained. Counting alone settles most options — the boxes hold 1, 2, 3 and 4 symbols, so box 5 holds 5.

Where it goes: the symbols trace a path through the cell. Here the path crosses the top row and then turns down the right-hand column, and that is what separates the two options carrying five symbols.

Key facts

• The four given boxes hold 1, 2, 3 and 4 symbols, so the fifth must hold 5.
• Every symbol once introduced is kept in all later boxes and never removed.
• The additions run left to right across the top row and then downward in the right-hand column.

Common traps

• Counting the symbols but not checking placement, which lets option (c) through
• Accepting a repeated symbol as though it were the new addition
• Trying to predict the next symbol instead of testing the four options against the rule

No directly related past PYQ was found.