Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB): Modern US military cognitive battery

About the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)

Before 1968, each branch of the US military used its own cognitive battery: the Army Classification Battery (1947), the Navy Basic Test Battery, the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test, and others. This created administrative problems when recruits transferred between services and made comparison difficult. The Department of Defense unified these instruments into the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) in 1968.

The modern ASVAB has 10 subtests: General Science, Arithmetic Reasoning, Word Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Mathematics Knowledge, Electronics Information, Auto Information, Shop Information, Mechanical Comprehension, and Assembling Objects. Subtests combine into multiple composite scores used for specific occupational placement: the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) score determines basic enlistment eligibility; service-specific composites determine specific job assignments.

Approximately 700,000 ASVAB administrations occur annually across all US military services. About 200,000 of these are administered to active military applicants; the remaining 500,000 are administered through the Career Exploration Program in high schools (free administration to interested students). The ASVAB went through revisions in 1976, 1984, 2002, and 2004 (Form 23A, current). The Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) component is one of the most heavily-validated cognitive tests in existence and is widely cited in cognitive ability research.

The 9 subtests

Source

All test materials and historical content on this page are transcribed from:

ASVAB items are classified during military use and are not publicly released. Sample items appear in commercial ASVAB preparation materials but the actual operational items are classified.