Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB) Aptitude, Reasoning and Psychometric Testing Syllabus

What does the word-relationship type 'part to whole' mean, with an example?

One item is a component of the other; e.g. 'petal : flower' or 'page : book'.

State the order of operations used in mental arithmetic.

BODMAS/BIDMAS: Brackets, Orders (powers/roots), Division and Multiplication (left to right), then Addition and Subtraction (left to right).

What is the quick mental method to find 15% of a number?

Take 10% (move the decimal one place left) and add half of that (5%); e.g. 15% of 80 is $8 + 4 = 12$.

How do you convert a fraction to a percentage?

Multiply the fraction by 100: percentage $= \frac{\text{part}}{\text{whole}} \times 100$.

What is the formula for percentage change?

$\text{Percentage change} = \frac{\text{new} - \text{old}}{\text{old}} \times 100\%$.

State the formula relating speed, distance and time.

$\text{speed} = \frac{\text{distance}}{\text{time}}$, so $\text{distance} = \text{speed} \times \text{time}$ and $\text{time} = \frac{\text{distance}}{\text{speed}}$.

What multiplication trick quickly gives a number times 5?

Multiply by 10 then halve it; e.g. $48 \times 5 = \frac{480}{2} = 240$.

How do you calculate a simple average (arithmetic mean)?

$\text{mean} = \frac{\text{sum of values}}{\text{number of values}}$.

What is the formula for the ratio of two quantities and how is a ratio simplified?

A ratio $a:b$ compares two quantities; simplify by dividing both terms by their greatest common divisor, e.g. $20:35 = 4:7$.

When reading a data table, what should you check first before doing any calculation?

The units, headings and any totals or footnotes, to ensure you are comparing like with like and reading the correct row/column.

In data interpretation, how do you find what fraction one category is of a total?

Divide the category value by the grand total: $\text{fraction} = \frac{\text{category value}}{\text{total}}$ (multiply by 100 for a percentage).

What is the key difference between a bar chart and a pie chart for interpreting data?

A bar chart shows absolute values or comparisons across categories; a pie chart shows each category as a proportion of a whole (parts summing to 100%).

On a line graph, what does the steepness (gradient) of a line represent?

The rate of change of the plotted quantity over the horizontal variable; a steeper line means a faster rate of change.

Define estimation and why it is useful in timed numerical tests.

Estimation is approximating a calculation using rounded numbers to get a quick ballpark figure, which saves time and helps eliminate clearly wrong multiple-choice options.

How does rounding help sense-check the answer to $312 \times 19$?

Round to $300 \times 20 = 6000$; the exact answer ($5928$) should be close to this estimate, confirming it is in the right magnitude.

What is an order-of-magnitude check?

Verifying that an answer has the expected number of digits/size; if a calculation expected to be in the thousands returns a value in the hundreds or millions, an error is likely.

How do you complete an arithmetic sequence, and what defines it?

An arithmetic sequence has a constant common difference $d$ between terms; the next term is found by adding $d$, with $n$th term $a_n = a_1 + (n-1)d$.

What defines a geometric sequence and how is the next term found?

A geometric sequence has a constant common ratio $r$ between consecutive terms; multiply the last term by $r$, with $n$th term $a_n = a_1 \cdot r^{\,n-1}$.

Identify the rule and next term: $2, 6, 12, 20, 30, \ldots$

Differences increase by 2 ($4, 6, 8, 10$); equivalently $a_n = n(n+1)$, so the next term is $30 + 12 = 42$.

What strategy finds the pattern in a number series when a single difference does not work?

Check the second differences, alternating sub-sequences, ratios, or operations combining terms (e.g. add then multiply); many series interleave two simpler patterns.

In spatial reasoning, what is mental rotation?

The ability to imagine how a 2D or 3D shape looks when turned to a different orientation, used to match a rotated figure to the original.

When matching a rotated shape, what feature should you track to rule out incorrect options?

Track a distinctive asymmetric feature (e.g. an arrow, notch or shaded part) and its position relative to the rest of the shape, since rotation preserves it but reflection reverses it.

How can you distinguish a rotation from a reflection (mirror image) of a shape?

Rotation preserves the handedness/chirality of an asymmetric figure, whereas reflection reverses it; if the figure looks 'flipped' rather than 'turned', it is a reflection and usually not a valid rotation answer.

What is the approach to an 'odd-one-out' item?

Identify the common rule shared by the majority of items (shape, number property, category, transformation) and select the one that breaks that rule.

How do you solve a matrix (3x3 grid) abstract reasoning problem?

Identify the pattern across rows and down columns (changes in shape, number, shading, rotation or position) and apply the combined rule to deduce the missing cell.

In matrix logic, name three common dimensions of change to scan for.

Quantity/number of elements, rotation or movement of elements, and shading/colour or size changes; often two or more vary simultaneously.

What is the purpose of psychometric self-report questionnaires at AOSB?

To assess personality traits, motivation and values relevant to officer potential, providing a profile used to inform interviews and the overall assessment of suitability.

Why is honest, consistent self-reporting important on personality questionnaires?

Many questionnaires contain consistency/validity checks; inconsistent or contradictory answers across similarly worded items flag the profile as unreliable and can undermine credibility at interview.

What is 'socially desirable responding' and why should it be avoided in psychometric testing?

It is answering to appear ideal rather than truthful (faking good); it is avoided because lie/social-desirability scales can detect it, and an over-positive profile is harder to back up under interview probing.

What does it mean to align self-perception with demonstrated behaviour at AOSB?

Your questionnaire and interview claims about yourself should match the behaviour you actually show in command tasks, group exercises and your evidenced history; consistency across these sources builds credibility.

How do assessors typically detect distortion between self-report and real behaviour?

By triangulating the psychometric profile, interview answers and observed performance; gaps (e.g. claiming strong teamwork but dominating a group task) reveal exaggeration and reduce trust in the candidate's self-assessment.