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Documentation · 1968 · Military

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

The cognitive battery administered to every US military recruit. The ASVAB descended from the WWI Army Alpha (1918) through the Army General Classification Test (AGCT, 1942) and the Army Classification Battery (ACB, 1947), with the modern unified ASVAB introduced in 1968 across all US military services. Approximately 700,000 ASVAB administrations occur annually.

Read About the Test

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.

Copyright note: ASVAB items are classified during operational military use. Sample items in commercial preparation materials approximate the format but are not actual ASVAB items.

The 9 subtests

#1
General Science (GS) Basic science knowledge: biology, chemistry, physics, earth science.
Classified
#2
Arithmetic Reasoning (AR) Word problems in arithmetic.
Classified
#3
Word Knowledge (WK) Vocabulary multiple choice.
Classified
#4
Paragraph Comprehension (PC) Read passages and answer comprehension questions.
Classified
#5
Mathematics Knowledge (MK) Algebra and geometry computation.
Classified
#6
Electronics Information (EI) Basic electronics knowledge.
Classified
#7
Auto and Shop Information (AS) Automotive and shop tools knowledge.
Classified
#8
Mechanical Comprehension (MC) Mechanical principles and reasoning.
Classified
#9
Assembling Objects (AO) Visual spatial assembly of parts.
Classified

Sample Items (Illustrative)

Items are typically presented as multiple-choice questions or short-answer questions. They are scored based on the accuracy of the response, with multiple-choice questions having one correct option among four choices.

Sample 1 · General Science (GS)
What is the primary gas found in Earth's atmosphere?
Example response: Nitrogen
Sample 2 · Arithmetic Reasoning (AR)
If a car travels 60 miles in 1.5 hours, what is its average speed in miles per hour?
Example response: 40 miles per hour
Sample 3 · Word Knowledge (WK)
Select the word that most nearly means 'benevolent':A) HostileB) KindC) IndifferentD) Uncertain
Example response: B) Kind
Sample 4 · Paragraph Comprehension (PC)
Read the following passage: 'The sun is a massive star that provides light and heat to our planet. Without it, life on Earth would not be possible.' What is the main idea of this passage?
Example response: The sun is essential for life on Earth.
Sample 5 · Mathematics Knowledge (MK)
Solve for x in the equation: 3x + 5 = 20.
Example response: x = 5

These are illustrative samples, not actual items from the protected test.

Source

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

U.S. Department of Defense (1968). Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).

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.

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This page is part of the Historical IQ Tests Archive. Editorial content, transcription notes, and curation are released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0). Public-domain primary sources retain their public-domain status. BibTeX · RIS

Historical test materials are obsolete and are not valid modern IQ assessments. This page is preserved for educational, research, and historiographic purposes.

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