SIFT Spatial Apperception Test: From Cockpit View to Aircraft

Format and timing

Source: SIFT FAQ V2.0; the format description is ours.

Scoring: no blanks

The SAT has a fixed number of questions, and unanswered ones are scored as wrong. Unlike Simple Drawings and Hidden Figures, nothing extra comes off for a miss, so never leave a blank: even one read usually removes an option or two.

The SAT feeds the single SIFT score (20–80; 40 to qualify) through a proprietary, compensatory formula, and any score our app shows is an estimate.

What it tests

Mental rotation: building a 3-D picture of an aircraft's attitude and direction from what the pilot sees, then recognizing the same aircraft from outside.

Our generated items use one fixed world, stated in the directions above each set: a straight coastline running north–south, land to the west, sea to the east, and outside pictures taken from the south at the aircraft's altitude, so the coast is on your left. On test day, read the directions for the conventions the real items use.

The technique: three reads

Read the cockpit view in a fixed order and turn each read into one word.

• Pitch. Horizon low in the window, mostly sky: climbing. Horizon high, mostly ground or sea: diving. Across the middle: level.
• Bank. Horizon tilted with its left side low: banked right. Right side low: banked left. Level horizon: wings level.
• Direction. Where the land, sea and coastline sit tells you where the nose points.

Then eliminate. Each read usually removes one or two outside pictures; the last one standing is the answer.

Three worked examples, described in words

Example 1. The horizon crosses the middle of the window, level, and the coastline runs straight ahead on your left. Reads: level, wings level, flying north along the coast. In our convention you see a northbound aircraft from behind, so pick the tail-on picture with level wings and nose. The distractors show it banked, nose-up, or nose-on (flying south).

Example 2. The horizon sits low in the window and slopes with its left side low; ahead is open sea. Reads: climbing, banked right, heading out to sea, so east. Pick the side view with the nose pointing to your right, nose up, right wing down. The same climb with the left wing down is the bank trap.

Example 3. The horizon is high in the window, mostly sea, and level; land runs along your right. Reads: diving, wings level, flying south. A southbound aircraft comes toward you, so pick the nose-on picture with the nose down. If a nose-on picture shows a bank, remember its right wing is on your left.

Traps

• The mirror effect. On an aircraft flying toward you, its right wing is on your left.
• Pitch backwards. More sky in the window means the nose is up.
• Bank backwards. The horizon tilts the opposite way from the wings: in a right bank, its left side drops.
• Two out of three. A picture that matches pitch and bank but not direction is still wrong.
• Blanks. Unanswered questions are scored as wrong.

Pacing

Once the reads are automatic they take about 10 seconds; checking pictures takes the rest of the 24. If a question stalls past 30 seconds, take your best remaining option and move on. Before time runs out, answer anything left.

Practice it here

The items above are rendered by code from a pose (heading, pitch and bank), so every key is computed, and each explanation walks through the three reads. Start in practice mode, then a timed set: 25 questions in 10 minutes. Our pictures are original renderings, not SIFT items.

How to solve a Spatial Apperception question

1. Read pitch: horizon low in the window means climbing, high means diving, centered means level.
2. Read bank: horizon left side low means a right bank; right side low means a left bank.
3. Read direction from the land, sea and coastline in the window.
4. Put the three reads into one phrase, such as climbing right turn, out to sea.
5. Cross out every outside picture that fails any one read.
6. For an aircraft coming toward you, remember its right wing is on your left.
7. Answer every question; blanks are scored as wrong.

FAQ