AviationSelectionTestBattery(ASTB)

TheAviationSelectionTestBattery(ASTB)isusedbytheU.S.Navy,MarineCorps,andCoastGuardas onecriterionusedinmakingselectiondeterminationsforofficeraviationprogramapplicants. Themost recentcompleterevisionoftheASTBwascompletedbytheNavalOperationalMedicineInstitute(NOMI) in cooperation with the Educational Testing Services(ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey in 1992. In 2004, three new parallel forms of this ASTB version were released byNOMI, and Forms 1 and 2, which had beenincirculationfrom1992to2004,weresuspended. The ASTB is used by the Navy Personnel Command (NPC) and Commandant Marine Corps to select candidatesfortheNavyandMarineCorpspilotandflightofficerprograms.Portionsofthetestarealso usedbytheNavyforselectionintoOfficerCandidateSchool(OCS).TheCoastGuardcurrentlyusesthe ASTBtoselectpilotcandidatesfortraining,andusesasubcomponentscorefromtheASTBforitsnon aviationofficercommissioningprogram.

ASTBAdministrationProceduresandPolicies
The ASTB is administered at Navy Recruiting Districts (NRDs), NROTC units, Marine Corps Officer SelectionOffices(OSOs),andatnumerousotherpermanentcustodysites. Thetestisadministeredina paper format, but at many sites it can be administered on a computer through a webbased system calledAPEX.NET.TherearethreeversionsofthetestForm3,Form4,andForm5.Eachversionofthe testcontainsdifferentquestions,butallthreeversionshavethesameformat,subtests,andnumberof questions. The complete test battery contains 6 subtests and requires approximately 2 hours to administer. RetestPolicy: ExamineesthatwouldliketoimprovetheirscoresontheASTBmustwaituntilthe31st dayfollowingtheirinitialattemptsbeforetakingdifferentversionsofthetest. Forexample,anindividual thattakesForm3duringtheirfirstadministrationmusttakeForm4orForm5duringtheirsecondtesting session. A third and final attempt at Form 3, 4,or 5 is authorized on the 91st day following the first retest. Thesetestintervalrequirementscannotbewaived,soitisimportantthatexamineesareaware

of the forms taken during previous administrations and the amount of time that has passed between administrations. Please talk to your recruiter or call 8504522257, and choose Option 3 followed by Option5ifyouareunsureofyourtestdateorformnumber.
3TestLifetimeLimit: AmajorchangeregardingtheadministrationoftheASTBwastheestablishment ofa3testlifetimelimitinJuly2004. Anexamineemayonlytakeeachversionofthetest(Form3,Form 4,andForm5)once,whichmeansthatanindividualwillonlybeallowedtotaketheASTB3timesduring hisorherlifetime.Examineesmusttakeadifferentformduringeachretest,buttheformscanbetaken inanyorder.ThislimitonlyappliestoForms3,4,and5.Therefore,ifindividualstookapreviousversion ofthetest(Forms1and2,whicharelongerinuse),itisnotcountedinthislimit. IllegalTesting: Anexamineethatreteststooearlyorretestsusingaformthatheorshehasalready takenwillgenerateanillegaltest.Anillegaltestmeansthattheindividualwillnotreceivevalidscores for the testing administration. On the other hand, the illegal test will still be counted against the individualslifetimelimit.

ASTBScoringandExamineeDistributions
ThecurrentversionoftheASTBwasconstructedandvalidatedtopredictbothperformanceandattrition through the primary phases of aviation training for Student Naval Aviators (SNAs) and Student Naval FlightOfficers(SNFOs). Theentiretestbatteryconsistsof6subtests:

ASTBSubtest
MathSkillsTest(MST) ReadingSkillsTest(RST) MechanicalComprehensionTest(MCT) SpatialApperceptionTest(SAT) AviationandNauticalInformationTest(ANIT) AviationSupplementalTest(AST)

Length
30items 27items 30items 25items 30items 34items

TimeLimit
25min 25min 15min 10min 15min 25min

OAR

During the testadministration,examinees have theoption of taking the entire test batteryor theOAR portionofthetest,whichconsistsoftheMathSkillsTest,ReadingComprehensionTest,andMechanical ComprehensionTest. ExamineesthattakeonlytheOARportionwillreceiveonlyonescore,theOfficer AptititudeRating(OAR),whichisusedtopredictacademicperformanceinNavyOfficerCandidateSchool (OCS).OARscoresrangefrom20to80,andarescaledastscores.

DistributionofOARScores FiscalYear2004
450 400

NumberofExaminees

350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

N=7789

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

OARScore

ThechartshowsthedistributionofOARscoresforallexamineestakingtheASTBinoneyear.Thegreen band shows that most examinees obtain scores between 40 and 60, while very few individuals obtain scoresattheupperandlowerextremesofthescorerange. TestMerges:ApplicantswhohavetakenonlytheOARportionoftheASTB(MST,RCT,&MCT)may taketheremainingportions(SAT,ANIT,&AST)toobtainacompletesetofscores.Examineesmusttake the remaining portions within 90 days of the initial test, and the test date of the SAT, ANIT, & AST become the official test date for the complete exam. The test merge will count as only one attempt againsttheexaminees3testlifetimelimit. Examineesthattaketheentiretestbatteryreceive4scoresthatarederivedfromcombinationsofthe subtests. Thefollowingthreescoresarerelevanttotheselectionofaviationcandidates:

TheAcademicQualificationsRating(AQR)ispredictiveofacademicperformanceinaviationpreflight instruction(API)andprimaryphasegroundschool. ThePilotFlightAptitudeRating(PFAR)ispredictiveofprimaryflightperformanceforStudentNaval Aviators(SNAs). The Flight Officer Flight Aptitude Rating (FOFAR) is predictive of primary flight performance for StudentNavalFlightOfficers(SNFOs).

Alongwiththesethreescores,individualsthattaketheentiretestbatteryalsoreceiveanOfficerAptitude Rating. TheAQR,PFAR,andFOFARarestandardizedandreportedasstanines. AQR,PFARandFOFAR scoresrangefrom1to9. Thegraphicbelowindicateswhatpercentageofanormalpopulationwillfall intoeachcategory.

Notethattheabovefiguredepictsthenormaldistributionofasinglescoreonly.Aviationaccessionsare madebasedontwoscores(AQR&PFARorAQR&FOFAR).Thejointdistributionsofscoresonthese twocombinationsareasfollows:

ExamineeDistributionsforAQRandPFARScoreCombinations(FY04)

PFAR 1 AQR 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
95.5% 85.0% 70.0%

2
95.8% 94.3% 85.0% 70.0% 51.4%

3
87.3% 87.0% 82.8% 69.7% 51.4% 31.1%

4
72.8% 72.2% 65.9% 50.7% 31.0% 15.3%

5
55.4% 55.3% 53.9% 46.7% 30.4% 15.3% 5.9%

37.7% 37.6% 35.6% 26.9% 14.8% 5.9% 1.8% 19.1% 18.9% 17.4% 12.2% 5.6% 1.8% 7.7% 7.7% 7.6% 6.6% 4.2% 1.7% 3.1% 2.9% 2.3% 1.2%

ExamineeDistributionsforAQRandFOFARScoreCombinations(FY04)

FOFAR 1 AQR 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
95.5% 85.0%

2
95.6% 94.7% 85.0%

3
85.8% 83.2% 70.0%

4
70.9% 70.8% 66.9% 51.3%

53.3% 53.1% 47.8% 30.9% 31.2% 31.0% 26.4% 15.0% 15.3% 14.9% 11.8% 5.8% 5.6% 5.6% 5.4% 4.3% 1.8% 1.8% 1.8% 1.7% 1.3%

Eachcellofthechartshowsthepercentageofexamineesthatobtainedaparticularscoreorhigherfor eachscorecombinationontheAQRandPFARorAQRandFOFAR. Thereforeindividualsthatscoreda6 ontheAQRandan8onthePFARwouldbeincludedinthepercentageforanAQRof5andaPFARof7. Forexample,ifanindividualwantedtoknowhowmanypeoplescoreda4ontheAQRanda6onthe PFAR,heorshewouldlookdowntheleftsideofthetableandfindtherowthatcontainsAQRscoresof4 and then go across the table to the PFAR score of 6. In this case, the table shows that 37.6% of examineesobtainedanAQRof4orhigherandaPFARof6orhigher.

ASTBStudyGuideandSampleQuestions
ThemostfrequentlyrequestedinformationabouttheASTBiswhattypesofquestionsareonthetestand whetherstudymaterialsareavailable.Thefollowingsectionisdesignedtoprovideinformationtoanswer thesequestionsandprepareindividualsforthetypesofinformationthattheywillseeontheexam,butin nowayisitmeanttobeanexhaustivestudyguide. Thesectionincludesanoverviewofthequestions

found in each subtest, links to documents that will help prepare examinees, and sample questions for eachsubtest. TheASTBsubtestscontainthefollowingtypesofitems: Mathematics: ThemathskillsassessedbytheASTBsubtestsincludearithmeticandalgebra,withsome geometry. Theassessmentsincludebothequationsandwordproblems.Someitemsrequiresolvingfor variables,othersaretimeanddistanceproblems,andsomerequiretheestimationofsimpleprobabilities. Skillsassessedincludebasicarithmeticoperations,solvingforvariables,fractions,roots,exponents,and thecalculationofangles,area,andperimeterofgeometricshapes. ReadingComprehension: ReadingcomprehensionitemsrequireASTBexamineestoextractmeaning fromtextpassages.Eachitemrequirestheexamineetodeterminewhichoftheresponseoptionscanbe inferred from the passage itself. This is pretty straightforward, although it is very important that examineesrememberthatincorrectresponseoptionsmaystillappeartobetrueonlyoneanswerto eachitemcanbederivedsolelyfromtheinformationinthepassage. Mechanical Comprehension: Items contained within the mechanical comprehension portion of the ASTBincludetopicsthatwouldtypicallybefoundinanintroductoryhighschoolphysicscourseandthe applicationofthesetopicswithinavarietyofsituations.Thequestionsinthisportionofthetestgauge examineesknowledgeofprinciplesrelatedtogasesandliquids,andtheirunderstandingofthewaysin which these properties affect pressure, volume,and velocity. The subtest alsoincludes questions that relatetothecomponentsandperformanceofengines,principlesofelectricity,gears,weightdistribution, andtheoperationofsimplemachines,suchaspulleysandfulcrums. Aviation & Nautical Information: ASTB subtests also assess an examinees familiarity with aviation history,nauticalterminologyandprocedures,andaviationrelatedconceptssuchasaircraftcomponents, aerodynamic principles, and flight rules and regulations. Of all the ASTB subtests, ANI scores are the mosteasilyimprovedbystudybecauseitislargelyatestofknowledge,ratherthanaptitude. Examinees can prepare for this subtest by reviewing general reference materials, such as encyclopedias, FAA and civilian aviation books, and handbooks and manuals that provide an overview of basic piloting, navigation,andseamanship. Inadditiontothesesources,someexamineeshaveusedcommercially available study guides. Even though NOMI does not endorse a particular study guide, books that are designedtoprepareindividualsformilitaryaptitudeflighttestsandofficercandidatetestsoftenprovidea goodintroductiontoaviationandnauticalrelatedsubjects. SpatialApperception:Theseitemsevaluateanexamineesabilitytomatchexternalandinternalviews ofanaircraftbasedonvisualcuesregardingitsdirectionandorientationrelativetotheground.Each itemconsistsofaviewfrominsidethecockpit,whichtheexamineemustmatchtooneoffiveexternal views. Theseitemscapturetheabilitytovisualizetheorientationofobjectsinthreedimensionalspace. AviationSupplementalMaterial:ThefinalsubtestoftheASTBwilltypicallycontainavarietyofitems thataresimilarinformatandcontenttotheitemsintheprecedingsubtests. Therewillbealinktoapagethatcontainssamplequestionsforeachsubtestonthe ASTB. TherewillbealinktotheProgramAuthorizationsandinstructionsrelatedtothetest.

Allitemsonthetestunderwentsensitivityreviewsanddifferentialitemanalysistopreventculturaland genderbiasinthenewASTB.

The scores submitted for pilot programs are the AQR & PFAR. The AQR & FOFAR are used for flight officerprogramselection.TheminimumscoresforentryintotheflightprogramsaredeterminedbyNPC andCommandant,MarineCorps.

FrequentlyAskedQuestionsabouttheASTB
WhatdoestheASTBmeasure? TheASTBisprimarilyanaptitudetestitassessesmathskillsandaptitude,theabilitytoextract meaningfromwrittenmaterial,familiaritywithmechanicalconceptsandsimplemachines,andthe abilitytoperformmentalrotationstodeterminetheorientationofaircraftin3dimensionalspace. TheASTBalsomeasuresatesttakersknowledgeofaviationandnauticalterminology,familiaritywith aircraftcomponentsandfunction,knowledgeofbasicaerodynamicprinciples,andgraspofsome flightrulesandregulations.Performanceonthispartofthebatterycanbeimprovedbystudy,and examineeswithaviationandtoalesserextent,shipboardexperiencewilltypicallydowell.Boththese conceptshaveproventobeexcellentpredictorsofbothtrainingperformanceandsuccessintraining. Examineesthatwalkinwithsomelevelofbasicknowledgeintheseareasaremorelikelytosucceed asaviators. HowdoIknowifIshouldtaketheentireASTBoronlytheOARportion? Ageneralguidelineisthatindividualswhoareapplyingforaviationprogramsshouldtaketheentire ASTB battery (Navy and Marine Corps pilot and flight officer programs and Coast Guard pilot programs). Individualsthatareapplyingforotherprograms(Ex:NavyOCS)mayonlyberequiredto taketheOARportion,butindividualsshouldtalktotheirrecruitersorprogramadministratorsformore information. HowwelldoestheASTBpredicttrainingperformanceandattrition? ASTBscoresarehighlypredictiveofaviationtrainingoutcomes,suchasgradesthatareobtainedfrom testsduringtraininginclassroomsettings(academicgrades)andratingsthatarederivedfrom performanceinaircraft(flightgrades). Themeasurethatisusedtodescribethetestsabilityto predictflightgradesandacademicgradesiscalledvalidity. ThepredictivevalidityoftheAQRforthe predictionofSNA(pilot)academicgradesisr=.45(p<.001),whilethevalidityofthePFARto predictSNAflightgradesisr=.35(p<.001). Validitycoefficientsrangefrom0to1andthevalidity forbothacademicandflightgradescomparefavorablywithselectiontestingstandards. Eventhoughthepredictionofthesecriteriaisavaluableresource,oneofthemostimportant utilizationsoftheASTBisitsabilitytopredictattrition,whichreferstoastudentsprobabilityof completingaviationtraining. Approximately22%ofpilotsand25%offlightofficersattritefrom aviationtrainingeachyear,whichhaveproventobecostlyfiguresfortheNavyandMarinesbecause ofthehighcostsassociatedwithtrainingeachstudent. Therefore,itisestimatedthatthereduction intrainingattritioncostsproducedbyASTBscreeningsavestheNavyandMarineCorpsover30 milliondollarseachyear. CanItaketheASTBonacomputer? WillIhaveanadvantageifItakethepaperversion ofthetest? Atsometestsites,theASTBisavailableinawebbasedformatcalledAPEX.NET.Thecontentonthe computeradministeredversionofthetestisidenticaltothepaperandpencilversionofthetest.The

webbasedversionoftheASTBallowsfortheadministrationoftheexamanywhereintheworld,but thesystemisoperatedonasecureserverthatismonitoredandcontrolledbyNOMI. Even though some individuals feel more comfortable taking the paper version of the test, studies have found that there is virtually no difference in pass rates between the paper and computer versionsofthetest. HowcanIfindoutmyASTBscores? Isthereanywaytofindoutmyscoresimmediately? ThepaperandpencilversionoftheASTBmustbesenttoNOMItobescored.Unlikepreviousforms of the test, scoring manuals were not issued to the fleet for ASTB Forms 3, 4, and 5 in order to protecttestsecurity. Therefore,recruitersandothertestadministratorsarenolongerabletoprovide unofficialscoresforthetest.Inordertoobtainscoresforthetestexamineesorrecruitersmaycall 8504522257.Afterhearingthemessage,pressOption3,thenOption5toobtainscores.Anofficial scoreletterwillbegeneratedthatcanbesentbefaxedmailed,oremailedtoamilitaryoreducation address. ImmediatescoresontheseASTBformscanbegeneratedusingtheAPEX.NETwebbasedplatformfor ASTB administration. Ask your recruiter for more information, or have himor her contact NOMI at 8504522257x1060. WhatistheBiographicalInventory(BI)andwhyisntitusedanylonger? The BI considers background experiences, such as extracurricular involvement in high school and college,relevanttosuccessinthefastpacedanddemandingaviationprogram.AlthoughtheBIwas initially a powerful predictor of attrition, its ability to predict which students will complete aviation traininghasessentiallydeclinedtozerooveraperiodofyears. WhatarethecurrentASTBminimumscorerequirements? The minimum score requirements differ by program and service. Please refer to Program Authorizations 106 and 107, and MCO 1542.1I, or talk to your recruiter for specific information regardingtheprogramtowhichyouareapplying. Howwelldomostexamineesdoonthistest? PleaserefertothetablesabovewhichshowscoredistributionsfortheOARportionofthetestaswell asscorecombinationsfortheAQRandPFAR(pilots),andtheAQRandFOFAR(flightofficers). WhyweretheoldformsoftheASTBreplaced? Arepassratesequivalentbetweentheold (Forms1&2)andnew(Forms3,4,&5)ASTBforms? ThereareseveralreasonsfortheintroductionofnewformsoftheASTB.Thefirstreasonisthatthe lasttimethatthelastrevisionofthetestoccurredmorethan10yearsago.Therefore,someofthe questions had become outdated and needed to be updated. Also, widespread exposure of test questions on the Internet and in study guides made it necessary to update the ASTB to ensure its accuracyinpredictingindividualsthatwouldbesuccessfulinaviationtraining. Nationwide pass rates on the ASTB at both USN and USMC SNA & SNFO standards are virtually identical(+/3%)topassratesonForms1and2. WhichtestsmakethegreatestcontributiontoeachscoreIreceived?

TheformulasthatareutilizedtocomputeASTBscorecomponentsareproprietaryinformationandwill notbereleasedbyNOMI.Thefollowinggeneralguidanceisofferedtoassistexamineesinpreparing foranASTBtestorretest.

AcademicQualificationsRating(AQR):Thisscoreisaffectedbyperformanceonallsubtests,but thestrongestinfluenceismadebytheMathSkillsTest. PilotFlightAptitudeRating(PFAR):Thisscoreisaffectedbyperformanceonallsubtests,butthe greatestcontributionismadebytheAviation&NauticalInfoandSpatialApperceptionTests. FlightOfficerFlightAptitudeRating(FOFAR):Thisscoreisaffectedbyperformanceonall subtests,butthestrongestinfluenceismadebytheMathSkillsTest. OfficerAptitudeRating(OAR):Thisscoreisaffectedbyperformanceonthefirstthreesubtests, MathSkills,ReadingComprehension,andMechanicalComprehension.

IheardthereweresomequestionswithnorightanswersontheASTB. Isthisjusta rumor? TherewereafewflaweditemsinoneofthesubtestsreleasedwiththenewASTBformsin2004. NOMIcaughtthesebeforeanyofthetestshadbeengiven,butseveralofthetestbookletshad alreadybeenmailedouttorecruiters.Therefore,theflaweditemswereeliminatedfromthescoring keyuntilupdatedformsweresentout.Duringthetimeperiodthattheflaweditemswereinthefield, examineescoreswerecalculatedusingfeweritemssothatexamineescoreswerenotaffectedbythe flaweditems. Ihaveseenstudyguidesformilitaryaviationtestsinbookstores.Wouldtheseguides helpmestudyfortheASTB? NOMIdoesnotendorseanycommercialstudyguides,buttheguidesmightbehelpfulforexaminees whowanttoacquiretestingstrategies,reviewandpracticemathprinciplesandproblems,familiarize themselveswithmilitaryhistoryandaviationterminology,andpracticepacingontimedtests.