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CFAST practice module

Auditory Capacity Test Guide

Trying to do everything perfectly backfires here, especially on the tracking half, which isn't weighted as heavily as it feels like it should be.

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Independent exercise Reviewed 11 September 2026
Module briefing // MEMORY
Training focusShort Term Memory / Capacity — holding spoken information while a separate task keeps running
CategoryMEMORYStart withAccuracyThen buildPace
Primary focusShort Term Memory / Capacity — holding spoken information while a separate task keeps running
Best starting pointBuild an accurate, repeatable method
Training formatInteractive browser exercise

Module overview

What the test trains

This module focuses on Short Term Memory / Capacity — holding spoken information while a separate task keeps running. It is designed to make the underlying process easier to recognise, repeat and review before you add more speed or workload.

How this trainer relates to CFAST

In this trainer's Pilot (PLT) domain breakdown, Auditory Capacity is grouped under Short Term Memory / Capacity (STM/C). The Academy tracks this domain separately rather than combining it with an overall weighted index. This is the Academy’s training model, not an official CAF scoring calculation.

Task profile

What the task looks like

What it involves

  • Take in spoken instructions and hold short sequences while a manual task continues underneath.
  • Act on colour or number instructions using the right control.
  • Keep a joystick task going without letting it consume all your attention.
  • Clear an instruction once it's done so it stops taking up space.

Practice screen example

These screenshots show CBAT Academy’s independent practice version of the task.

Auditory Capacity practice screen with a pursuit-tracking tunnel and central target
The visual tracking task continues while spoken information is delivered, forcing attention to be divided between controlling the target and retaining what you hear.Screenshot from the Auditory Capacity practice module.

Interface briefing

Controls and difficulty

Controls

Listen to the presented sequence, then respond using the on-screen answer field, the keyboard, or a calibrated gamepad and pedal set — this module accepts more input channels than most because it tracks several response streams at once.

Difficulty and settings

Sequence length grows from 4 to 6 items and playback speeds up from 1.0x to 1.4x as difficulty increases, with the response window held at 4 minutes throughout. Every run is split into segments that each add something new (shape, number and beep orders, then call signs); medium, hard and the assessment also play white noise and other people's conversations to ignore, and easy practice has neither.

Read how practice scores and estimates work →

Training plan

Build a method that holds up under pressure

Why this becomes difficult

  • Spoken information doesn't wait for you; there's no re-reading it.
  • It comes in segments, and every one adds something new on top of what you're already doing.
  • White noise and other people's conversations play in the background, and none of it is meant for you.
  • Chasing perfect tracking accuracy can quietly eat the attention the auditory task needs.
  • Trying to recover a missed instruction tends to cost you the next one too.

Preparation tips

  • Treat new spoken information as the priority the moment it arrives.
  • Chunk digits instead of holding them as individual items.
  • Keep manual corrections small — smooth beats precise here.
  • When a new segment starts, take in what has been added before you begin again.
  • Let the noise and the conversations go past: listen for the controller's voice, not for words.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the tracking task absorb so much attention that instructions get missed.
  • Spending too long trying to recover one missed instruction.
  • Pressing keys nobody ordered — Space with no beep, a number for another call sign's order — which counts against you.
  • Overcorrecting the manual task instead of accepting "close enough."

Useful practice drills

  • Recall 4-8 digit strings while tracing a moving target by hand.
  • Follow short conditional instructions while doing simple arithmetic in parallel.
  • Score the listening and tracking halves separately to see which one gives first under load.

Transparency

Sources and information status

Task guidance on this page describes CBAT Academy’s own software. Broad aptitude context is checked against the public references in the source register.

The official CFASC candidate-guide PDF (22 January 2015) describes named test examples. Use it for historical familiarisation and follow your current joining instructions. The exercise mechanics and practice advice here describe the Academy version; domain mappings and scores are independent.

This guide describes CBAT Academy’s independently developed practice modules. It is not an exact specification of any current RAF, Canadian Forces or Ministry of Defence assessment. Official content, timings, scoring and administration may differ.

Continue the briefing

Turn the method into repeatable performance.

Launch the interactive trainer, begin with accuracy and review the pattern behind each mistake before increasing pace.

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Prepared by CBAT Academy · Last reviewed 11 September 2026 · Editorial process