The Differential Aptitude Tests

The Psychological Corporation

Report for Joe Sample

09-Jan-01

A short time ago, you took the Differential Aptitude Tests. A summary of your results is
shown in the graph below and further details are provided inside this report. The results will
point out your strongest abilities and, when combined with your results from the Career
Interest Inventory, can give you a head start as you begin to think about your future. This
knowledge can help you decide what skills you may need and what courses to take in order
to reach your career goals.

Each DAT test measures your ability in a different area and the areas can be related to the
career fields included on the Career Interest Inventory.

DAT For Guidance: Aptitude Profile

Norms: M + F Career Guidance Adults
Educ. Plans:

Percentile - Stanine

Verbal Reasoning 10 - 2

Numerical Reasoning 45 - 5

Abstract Reasoning 90 - 8

Percept. Speed / Acc. 70 - 6

Mechanical Reasoning 20 - 3

Space Relations 85 - 7

Spelling 78 - 7

Language Usage 20 - 3

Educational Aptitude 20 - 3

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 Detailed Explanation of Your DAT Test Results
The results in the graph on the previous page show how you did in the tests compared with
other people similar to yourself. In looking at these results you need to focus on those areas in
which you did best and try to capitalise on these as far as you can in your future education,
training and job hunting. The sections below will give you more idea of what each of the
individual DAT results mean and of how understanding them can help you in choosing a career
you are suited to.

However, your choice of career should not simply be based on what you are good at but also
on what sort of work you enjoy. The Career Interest Inventory, which you may also have
taken at the same time as the DAT, will help you to see what types of work you would enjoy
doing. Your final choice of career should then be made by using both sources of information
along with information on specific job and training opportunities that your careers adviser may
be able to give you.

Verbal Reasoning
You will see from the graph on the previous page that the first result is for the Verbal Reasoning
Test. As mentioned above, the graph shows how well you did on this test in comparison to
people similar to yourself. Your score on the Verbal Reasoning test was in the ‘Below Average’
range.

Verbal reasoning ability is important for any work which involves communicating ideas or
understanding written material. It can also be important for many kinds of work in which the
understanding of difficult concepts is required. Areas of work in which these abilities are
required are professional jobs (e.g. lawyer, doctor, teacher), technological jobs (e.g. engineer,
computer programmer), business (e.g. management, sales, marketing and advertising),
scientific work. Verbal reasoning ability is also required wherever communicating with others is
necesary (e.g. training, work involving the production of written material and administration).

It is important to have fairly good verbal skills if you wish to undertake further training or study,
especially in ‘academic’ areas. Your score on the verbal reasoning test suggests that if you
were interested in undertaking further study or training, you would probably succeed best with
practical subjects rather than the more traditional academic subjects.

Numerical Reasoning
Your score on the Numerical Reasoning test was in the average range. This test assesses
your ability for working with numbers and performing calculations and your score suggests that
you should cope fairly well with many jobs in which this ability is required.

Numerical ability is important for work in the technical professions such as science, engineering
and architecture. It is also important for many jobs in business and finance (e.g. sales
forecasting, banking, etc) and is very much needed for work in accounting. In the technical
area, numerical ability is relevant for any sort of work in which calculations or precise
measurements need to be made (for instance, surveying, joinery or laboratory work). It is also
important for many clerical or administrative jobs (e.g. local government, accounts
administration, etc.).

Numerical ability is also needed for many courses of training and further study. Your score on
this test suggests that you would manage reasonably well with the basic maths you would
need in many courses, although you should probably avoid those fields in which a high level of
mathematical ability is required.

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Abstract Reasoning
The Abstract Reasoning test measures a person's ability to reason with abstract ideas. It is
concerned with being able to perceive patterns among complex elements and to be able to see
how those elements relate to each other. Your score on this test was very high.

The ability to think in abstract terms is needed for work which involves seeing relationships
between things: either in a logical sense or in a practical sense. It is therefore useful for fields
such as computer programming and software design, mathematics, science and engineering. It
can also be useful in areas such as technical maintenance, which involves understanding how
parts of a machine or system relate to one another. Abstract reasoning is also important for
working in the field of design, since design is often concerned with the expression of abstract
ideas of themes. Finally, abstract reasoning can also be very important in management,
especially at the higher levels where one needs to see how the different parts of a complex
organisation fit together.

Perceptual Speed and Accuracy

Your Perceptual Speed and Accuracy score was in the average range. This test measures the
ability to work accurately with detail and at speed. Such an ability is important in many kinds of
routine or detailed work (clerical work, data entry or coding, for instance) and is also quite
important for scientific or technical work where precision is required (e.g. computer
programming or laboratory work). Furthermore, this is an ability required in all work where
attention to detail and quality are important (e.g. accountancy and some types of legal work).

Your score on the test therefore suggests that you would be capable of at least a reasonable
degree of speed and accuracy if you were working in jobs such as these.

Mechanical Reasoning
The Mechanical Reasoning test measures the ability to understand the basic principles of
machinery, of tools and of physical relationships between things. This ability is important for
any sort of work involving the design, operation or repair of equipment and is also very
important in the field of engineering and in some areas of product design. Examples of jobs in
which mechanical ability is important are motor mechanic, gas fitter and repairer, industrial fitter,
production engineer, civil engineer, aero-engineer, surveyor, electrician, carpenter, machine
operator, product designer and builder.

Your score on this test was a little below the average range.

Space Relations
The Space Relations test assesses a person's ability to visualise objects in three dimensions.
Your score was above the average range.

This ability is needed for any form of work in which it is important to be able to visualise objects
and to understand how they relate to each other. Examples of jobs where good spatial abilities
are required are architecture, design, technical drawing, dentistry, the fine arts, and also any
type of technical or craft work which involves dealing with objects at a practical level.

Spelling
Your score on the Spelling test was above the average range. This means that you should
have no particular difficulty in this respect in the majority of jobs for which written
communication is important. Your spelling is quite adequate for work both of an administrative

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nature and for many professional jobs. However, certain other kinds of work in which a very
high level of spelling accuracy would be required (e.g. journalism, technical writing, legal
drafting) might require an improvement in your spelling skills.

Language Usage
The ability to use language is important in any job in which communication, either written or
verbal, is involved. Examples of areas in which good language skills are required are
management, teaching, professional work (e.g. medicine, law, accountancy), work in the media
(radio and television, journalism) and clerical / administrative work.

The last test in the DAT series, Language Usage, assesses this ability and your score on this
test was a little below average.

Educational Aptitude
The Educational Aptitude score is derived from a combination of your scores on the Verbal
Reasoning and Numerical Reasoning tests and is taken as a general indication of your ability to
learn in a traditional academic environment such as a school, college or university. Your
Educational Aptitude score was a little below the average range. Depending on what study you
have already undertaken, there may be various opportunities at college or in some other form of
training which would be open to you and in which you might have potential. Your careers
advisor should be able to help you find out what courses would suit you.

Summary of Your Results

To summarise, you scored in the upper range on Abstract Reasoning, Space Relations and
Spelling, in the middle range on Numerical Reasoning and Perceptual Speed and Accuracy and
in the lower range on Verbal Reasoning, Mechanical Reasoning and Language Usage. In
deciding on your future career, you should now concentrate on those ability areas in which you
have achieved your best scores. Read through the relevant sections of this report and see
which fields of work are associated with those areas. These will then suggest opportunities
that you can explore further with your careers advisor.

Copyright © 1996 by The Psychological Corporation. All rights

reserved. Scores based on Normative Data Copyright © 1996
by The Psychological Corporation

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