Module overview
What the test trains
This module focuses on visual tracking, working memory, movement encoding and divided attention. It is designed to make the underlying process easier to recognise, repeat and review before you add more speed or workload.
Task profile
What the task looks like
What it involves
- Watch several coloured aircraft travel across the display.
- Encode whether each aircraft continued straight, turned left or turned right.
- Wait for the movement phase to finish before the question appears.
- Answer which coloured aircraft performed the manoeuvre asked about.
Practice screen example
These screenshots show CBAT Academy’s independent practice version of the task.
Interface briefing
Controls and difficulty
Controls
Watch a short aircraft animation, then answer questions about the flight path using the keyboard or a click.
Difficulty and settings
Every difficulty level runs for the same fixed 4-minute session; difficulty instead adds more aircraft to track at once, from 2 up to 5.
Read how practice scores and estimates work →Training plan
Build a method that holds up under pressure
Why this becomes difficult
- Several moving objects must be monitored at once.
- The useful information is the change in direction, not the finishing position.
- Different speeds and starting headings make trajectories look less uniform.
- The question is unknown during observation, so all aircraft must be encoded.
- Continuing to follow one aircraft can overwrite the other movement labels.
Preparation tips
- Focus on the moment trajectories begin to diverge.
- Cycle attention across aircraft rather than staring at one object.
- Store colour plus manoeuvre, not finishing position.
- Keep memory tags short and retrieve the label before inspecting answer choices.
- Increase aircraft count and speed only after accuracy is stable.
Common mistakes
- Remembering where an aircraft finished instead of how its direction changed.
- Following one salient aircraft and neglecting the others.
- Confusing left and right because aircraft start on different headings.
- Trying to replay the entire animation mentally.
- Looking at answer choices during the observation phase.
Useful practice drills
- Track three coloured dots and label each as left, right or straight.
- Report direction changes after a clip disappears.
- Vary aircraft speeds so motion salience does not determine attention.
- Add a two- or three-second delayed recall before answering.
- Increase aircraft count only after accuracy is stable.
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.
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.