Airline Pilot Central Forums - Neuropsychological Evaluation

Well, I suffered through it the other day. Since I couldn't find a lot of info about it (I did get a couple PMs, thx for that), I figured it may help someone else that's facing this know what to expect. Here ya go:

Aptitude Test

This was a grueling 6-hour appointment with a PsyD Dr. The Dr called it a neuropsychological evaluation. A questionnaire was filled out ahead of time and brought to the appointment. The evaluation consisted of about 70% oral evaluation with the rest computer testing and paperwork.

It started with a very comprehensive life history, literally starting with “Were there any difficulties in your childbirth?” to what childhood, family, school etc. was like. Also, the questionnaire I brought with me was gone over extensively. This took the majority of the first hour.

Then the orally administered exams started, of which there were many. A recurring theme was recall, i.e. 20 minutes later after a few more types of tests I would have to recall something from a previous test. For example, there was a chart with symbols associated with a number (1-9). There was two pages of symbols and I was required to fill in the associated number, and as with most all the tests, speed and accuracy both were judged. Then several tests later, I was asked to write down the symbols that went with the numbers.

One thing that could be practiced ahead of time was number recall. The Dr read 2-8 numbers which you must repeat in order. Then you must repeat them in reverse order. Another exercise: every 4 seconds a number is read, and you must sum the last two. Not too hard but then the numbers come every 2 seconds, which is too fast to keep up.

Another test was the Dr read a very detailed short story, which I was asked to repeat all the minute details of. Then another story which I repeated, after which I was asked to repeat the first story. Then 20 minutes later after more tests I was asked to repeat the story again. There was a word exercise where the Dr read off about 20 words and I was asked to repeat as many as possible. Then another list of words to repeat, then back to the first list without mixing them up. Then say words from the list that were in certain categories, i.e. modes of transportation, vegetables, etc. Then 20 minutes later-how many of the list of words can you say. I was asked to define several words, all of which I was familiar with but struggled on some to verbalize a definition. There was also a long list (2 pages) of words I was required to read, many of which I hadn’t heard of before and were difficult to pronounce. I had to say as many words that begin with A and S as I could in one minute…no proper words that are capitalized. A minute is a long time! It was harder than it sounds.

There was a very intricate figure I was asked to draw. The Dr kept handing me different colored markers while I was drawing. Then 20 minutes later I had to redraw the figure from memory. 20 minutes after that there were two pages of very similar figures and I had to pick the one matching the original. There were other figure drawing tests where I could view the figure for 10 seconds, then draw it from memory, with the figures getting more and more intricate.

There was a page full of words in black, blue and red ink. The words were black, blue and red, but the colors didn’t necessarily match the word, i.e. the word red might be in blue ink. I had to read first the word, then switch to say the color of the ink (not what the letters say), then back and forth. As all the tests, speed and accuracy were both judged.

I endured several math tests; the Dr would read the problem and I was required to do the math in my head with no paper allowed. They started easy, then like all the tests progressed to problems you could not do.

There was a pile of cards with symbols with different colors, symbols and number of symbols on each card. I was required to figure out which pattern to match, i.e. color, symbol or number of symbols on a card and when I got it they would change the pattern and I had to figure out the new pattern.

There was an entire battery of computer tests also. One was a 14-minute test where a letter flashed on the screen and if it wasn’t an X I was to tap the space bar. It seemed easy, but I was told I scored low, which was troubling because I’m certain I only mistakenly clicked an X a couple of times. When I said as much the Dr said my reaction time was slow. I guess I was going more for accuracy than speed. Speed is a factor on all the tests. There were many types of tests on a touch screen with a stylus where speed and accuracy both counted. Some were multi-tasking, there was a line that kept trying to go sideways off the screen and with the non-dominant hand I had to use the arrows to keep the symbol centered while solving problems with the stylus in my other hand.

Of course, it also included a nearly 600 true/false questions on the usual psychology/personality tests, which I worked on throughout the day until it was completed. At no point was I given any feedback, so it was very discouraging. As I said all the tests got progressively harder to the point of failure. There was no way to tell if you failed beyond the threshold set by your peers or prior to it. The Dr said several times that “you just have to average same as your peers”. Overall, it was quite taxing with a lot on the line. The only thing that it is possible to prepare for ahead of time is possibly the number exercises as mentioned above, and the Lumiosity app or some similar “brain game” app, it actually had some games that were close to the ones in the evaluation. And it would have been nice to know that I would have to recall so many things later in the testing.

Unbelievably, I don’t get to see the results, they go right to the company. I asked what company would get, i.e. every score of every test or what? Dr. said she would just send a summary and if they were satisfied with that nothing else. I hope this can help someone prepare for it, or at least know what to expect.