j_andrew_rogers comments on A puzzle on the ASVAB - Less Wrong

4 Post author: Hul-Gil 30 May 2011 04:01AM

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Comment author: j_andrew_rogers 31 May 2011 07:20:25AM 4 points [-]

The ASVAB is not an exemplar of careful correctness and it is not targeted at people for which that would be beneficial. When I took it many years ago there were a few questions with glaring ambiguities and questionable assumptions; I simply picked the answer that I thought they would want me to pick if I was ignorant of the subject matter.

I maxed the test.

The test is not aimed at intelligent, educated people. It is designed to filter out people of low intelligence. I've met many people that struggled to achieve 50%, something I used to find shocking. If there are a few technical ambiguities then that is of little consequence for its intended purpose. While there is some basic occupation recommendations based on the ASVAB, it is not designed to identify the significantly above average -- quite the opposite.