SIFT Simple Drawings: 100 in 2 Minutes, Without Guessing

Format and timing

Source: SIFT FAQ V2.0; the format description is in our own words. The SIFT is web-based only, and the whole session, with check-in and an optional break, can take up to about 3 hours.

Scoring: why blind guesses hurt

Per the SIFT FAQ, Simple Drawings is scored as the number you get right minus a portion of the number you get wrong. A question you leave unanswered isn't a wrong answer, so it costs nothing. A wrong click does.

With five drawings, a blind guess is right only one time in five, and the size of the deduction isn't published. The FAQ's advice is short: work quickly and don't guess.

Your result feeds one SIFT score on a 20–80 scale (mean 50, standard deviation 10), and 40 is the minimum to apply to Army aviation. The formula is proprietary and compensatory, so a strong subtest can offset a weak one. Any SIFT score our app shows is an estimate from our own model.

What it tests

Perceptual speed: seeing, in a glance, the one shape that breaks the pattern. There's nothing to calculate and nothing to learn in advance.

In our generated sets the difference comes in three grades: a different shape (easy); the same shape turned, mirrored, or filled instead of hollow (medium, as in the live set above); and the same shape with a small mark added or missing (hard).

The technique: one sweep, then commit

Don't compare drawings in pairs; at 1.2 seconds there's no time. Rest your eyes on the middle drawing so all five are in view, and let the odd one stand out.

If nothing stands out, check features in a fixed order: outline, then orientation, then fill, then small interior marks. Stop at the first mismatch and answer. Don't re-check a difference you've already seen.

Three worked examples, described in words

Example 1: a different shape. Four hollow pentagons and one hollow hexagon. The outline check catches it: one shape has an extra corner. Answer and move on, well under a second.

Example 2: the same shape, turned. Five arrows; four point up and one points right. Outline and fill match everywhere, so the orientation check does the work. A mirrored L-shape is found the same way: look at which side its foot sticks out.

Example 3: a missing mark. Five hollow circles, each with a short bar across the middle, except one that's empty. Outline, orientation and fill all match, so this is the kind that eats time. The interior check finds the empty circle. If no difference shows up in about two seconds, move on without answering.

Traps

• Clicking on a hunch. At this pace your hand can outrun your eyes. A wrong answer is deducted; a skipped one isn't.
• Re-checking a sure answer. Once you've seen the difference, answer. A second look costs the time for the next question.
• Naming the difference. You don't need to decide whether a shape is turned or mirrored, only that it differs.
• Panic at the buzzer. Random answers in the final seconds are exactly what the deduction punishes.

Pacing

The clock, not difficulty, sets your score. Full pace is 25 questions every 30 seconds, or 50 at the one-minute mark. If you're well behind at one minute, don't make up ground by guessing. Keep your accuracy and accept a lower count.

Practice it here

The set above is generated by code, so there's no fixed bank to memorize, and each key is computed rather than typed. Use practice mode to see an explanation after every answer, then a timed set: 100 questions on the SIFT's 2-minute clock. Watch your wrong answers as closely as your right ones; with a deduction in play, they're the number to drive down. Our drawings are original, never taken from the SIFT.

How to answer a Simple Drawings question in about a second

1. Rest your eyes on the middle drawing so all five are in view, and let the odd one stand out.
2. If nothing stands out, check outline, then orientation, then fill, then small marks.
3. Answer the moment you find the mismatch, without re-checking.
4. If two seconds pass with no difference found, move on without answering.
5. Never click random answers as time runs out; wrong answers are deducted.

FAQ