Here’s the funny thing about mock tests: you think you’re analysing them, but half the time, it’s your brain analysing you. You sit down after a bad mock, open the scorecard, and immediately your thoughts start spinning stories: “Quant was tough for everyone; it isn’t just me?” But the truth is, your brain often acts less like a logical evaluator and more like a defense lawyer trying to protect your ego. And unless you know how to catch it, you’ll keep repeating the same mistakes, just with better justifications.

The Ego Filter

The first lie your brain tells you is that the mock was flawed, not you. When you see a dip in your score, your instinct is to protect your self-image: “I knew this topic; I just made silly errors.” But those “silly errors” are often patterns of mental habits that surface under time pressure. Your brain loves patterns that preserve comfort. It will convince you that your weak area doesn’t need attention because “you usually get those right.” The first step in real mock analysis is to catch yourself when you start defending instead of diagnosing.

The Highlight Reel Trap

When you score well in a section, your brain instantly clings to it. You spend ten minutes admiring the RC you nailed and just skim past the Quant set that shattered your accuracy. That’s the highlight reel trap, your brain replaying your wins to avoid discomfort.

But progress in CAT doesn’t come from what went right; it comes from what felt wrong. The uncomfortable parts are gold mines of learning. If you can resist the urge to scroll past them, you’ll start seeing the real picture: the why behind your mistakes.

The Hindsight Illusion

Another sneaky mental trick is the hindsight illusion, the feeling that you “knew it all along.” After seeing the solution, your brain convinces you that the mistake was obvious. “Oh, I just misread that,” it says, neatly packaging your failure as a one-off error.

In reality, you didn’t just misread; you rushed or made an assumption. During analysis, you have to freeze the moment before you saw the answer and ask yourself: What made me choose this option? That’s where real learning hides, in understanding the wrong decision.

Why the Brain Hates Patterns That Break It

Ironically, your brain doesn’t like growth because growth feels like failure. Each time you face a mock that exposes a blind spot, your brain feels attacked. It prefers predictability, a familiar score range, a comfortable weakness, and a stable identity. “I’m bad at geometry,” it says, because that’s easier than saying, “I haven’t yet learned geometry.”

The trick is to reframe discomfort as data. Every dip, every blunder is your brain’s way of showing you where its current wiring ends. You’re not losing progress; you’re mapping limits so you can expand them.

Seeing the Real Picture

So how do you beat the brain’s lies? By making reflection harder to fake. When you analyse mocks, don’t just look at the right or wrong but document why. Write down your thought process. Force your brain to face realities instead of excuses.

Over time, you’ll notice patterns not just in your mistakes, but in your thinking. Maybe you rush the first five questions of every section, or avoid certain DILR formats subconsciously. 

Mock analysis isn’t a ritual you do after a test; it’s a mirror that shows you the truth if you’re brave enough to look without filters. Your brain will lie to keep you comfortable, but growth lives just outside that comfort zone. So embrace your wrongs while celebrating your corrects!