Differential Aptitude Test 5th Edition Scores Outlived the Test

This edition, usually shortened to DAT-5, is a paper-and-pencil set of eight timed tests. Each one measures a separate ability, so the result is a profile of highs and lows rather than one IQ-style number. George Bennett, Harold Seashore and Alexander Wesman built the first version in 1947 for the Psychological Corporation. The fifth edition, published in 1990, was the last full revision for seventh to twelfth graders, and the publisher stopped selling it in September 2014.

The name "DAT" now covers three different tests, and most confusion about times, item counts and prices comes from mixing them up.

Edition

Audience

Format

Status

DAT 5th Edition (1990)

Seventh to twelfth graders, some adults

Paper, eight timed subtests, Levels 1 and 2

Withdrawn September 2014

DAT for PCA

Adults in hiring and career counseling

Paper, same abilities, shorter timings

Paper-era adult version, since superseded

DAT Next Generation

Ages 16 and up

Online and adaptive, about 2 hours

Current

So why do people still look it up? Counselors and parents find old DAT-5 reports and want to know what the numbers mean. Psychology students meet it in textbooks as the classic example of a test that scores several abilities side by side. And people told to "take the DAT" go hunting for the edition they think they need, which is often not the test they will sit. Our guide to the differential aptitude test covers the whole family. This page stays with the fifth edition and what came after it.

Eight Timed Subtests, Eight Separate Scores

The DAT 5th edition subtests each ask one narrow kind of question against a short clock. Below, each gets a plain description, a sample item written in the same style, and what a strong score tends to predict. The samples are our own, not items from the real booklet.

Subtest

Items

Minutes

Sample item type

Verbal Reasoning

50

12 to 25

Double analogy with a word missing from each half

Numerical Ability

40

12 to 25

Arithmetic, percentages and short word problems

Abstract Reasoning

50

12 to 25

Figure series: pick the next shape

Perceptual Speed and Accuracy

100

12 to 25

Find the exact match in a row of letter-number strings

Mechanical Reasoning

70

12 to 25

Gear, lever or pulley drawing: which way, which is easier

Space Relations

60

12 to 25

Paper folding: which 3D shape the flat pattern makes

Spelling

100

12 to 25

Is this single word spelled correctly?

Language Usage

60

12 to 25

Find the part of a sentence with a grammar or punctuation error

Item counts come from Careershodh's DAT summary. Neither it nor the SRA Lab entry gives minutes for each subtest, only the 12 to 25 minute range, and the two disagree on the whole battery: Careershodh says 3 to 3.5 hours, SRA Lab says up to 3.

Why schools used the Differential Aptitude Test 5th Edition

The test was built for course and career guidance, not for picking winners. A counselor could look at a ninth grader's profile, see strong mechanical and spatial scores beside middling verbal ones, and talk through technical courses or a trade alongside the academic track. Because each ability was scored on its own, a student with ordinary grades could still find the one area where they stood well above their classmates. Some employers and training programs used the DAT too, though the adult version described further down was the one designed for that.

Verbal Reasoning and Numerical Ability: the scholastic pair

Verbal Reasoning uses double analogies with a word missing from each half. A sample in that style: "___ is to bark as cat is to ___", where the right choice is "dog ... meow". It measures how well you see relationships between ideas put into words, and it tracks closely with grades in English, history and other reading-heavy subjects.

Numerical Ability is arithmetic and number sense rather than advanced math: fractions, percentages, simple algebra and short word problems. A sample: if 40 percent of a number is 18, what is the number? (45.) It predicts how students do in math and science courses.

Added together, these two scores form the Scholastic Aptitude composite, sometimes printed as VR+NA. Schools used it as a quick read on readiness for academic work, and it is the closest thing a DAT-5 report has to a single overall score.

Abstract, Mechanical and Space Relations reasoning

Abstract Reasoning shows a row of figures that change by a hidden rule, and you pick the one that comes next. A sample: a circle with a line pointing up, then right, then down; the next figure points left. It needs no reading and no math, which made it useful for students whose language skills were hiding how well they reason.

Mechanical Reasoning shows drawings of ordinary machines and asks which way a part moves or which setup takes less effort. A sample: gear A turns clockwise and meshes with gear B, so which way does B turn? (Counterclockwise.) It relates to success in technical courses and hands-on trades. For more on how this skill gets tested outside the DAT, see our look at Barron's prep book for mechanical and spatial tests.

Space Relations shows a flat pattern with fold lines and asks which 3D shape it would make. A sample: a cross of six squares folds into a cube, so which face ends up opposite the shaded square? It matters for drafting, design, engineering and some medical work.

Perceptual Speed, Spelling and Language Usage

Perceptual Speed and Accuracy is the fast one. You scan short strings of letters and numbers and mark the exact match as quickly as you can, for example finding "7kB3" in a row that also holds "7kD3" and "7KB3". It measures quick, careful checking, the skill behind clerical work, data entry and quality control.

Spelling asks whether single words are spelled correctly ("accomodate" is wrong). Language Usage splits sentences into parts and asks which part holds a mistake in grammar, punctuation or capital letters. Together they predict success in writing-heavy courses and office roles.

The fifth edition came in two levels. Level 1 was aimed at the younger end of the range, roughly grades 7 to 9, and Level 2 at grades 10 to 12 and adults. Both used the same eight subtests, with harder items at Level 2. The booklets most often found today are labeled Form C. A school could give the complete battery or a shorter partial battery of chosen subtests, and answers went on separate sheets that were hand scored or sent away for machine scoring.

Why sources quote 2.5 hours or 3 for the full battery

Sources disagree, and it helps to know why. A publisher's reseller lists the complete battery at about 2.5 hours and the partial battery at about 1.5 hours. The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab entry on the DAT says up to 3 hours, with single subtests running 12 to 25 minutes. Most of the gap comes from whether you count instructions, practice items and breaks. In schools, the full battery was usually split across two sittings. Prep sites that quote very different minutes and item counts are often describing the adult version or the newer online test, so check which edition a number belongs to before you plan around it.

If you are asking how long "the DAT" takes because a dental school wants it, you need a different test entirely. The Dental Admission Test shares the initials and nothing else. Start with the dental admission testing page from the ADA, then read our guide to the dental DAT.

How reliable the DAT 5th Edition is

The fifth edition was normed on about 84,000 students from seventh through twelfth grade, a very large sample for its day, with separate tables for boys, girls and everyone combined. Internal consistency, a measure of whether the items in a subtest pull in the same direction, is rated excellent for most subtests (.83 to .90) and adequate for Verbal Reasoning, Spelling and Language Usage (.73 to .78). Retest results for Spelling and Language Usage came in at .91 and .89, so a student who sat those twice would land in nearly the same place.

Prediction is more uneven. Some subtests forecast grades in matching subjects well and others poorly. The same summary also notes that the DAT "loses its ability to differentiate" among students in higher education, because strong students bunch up near the ceiling. These are the kinds of evidence the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing ask any publisher to report, and on reliability and validity, the DAT-5 record is solid for a school test of its era.

A DAT-5 report gives each subtest three kinds of number. The raw score is how many items were right. The percentile says what share of students in the same grade scored lower, so a percentile of 70 means you outscored about 70 in 100 peers, not that you got 70 percent right. The stanine, short for "standard nine", squeezes percentiles into nine bands from 1 (lowest) to 9 (highest), with 5 in the middle. Stanines 4 to 6 cover the broad average, where a little over half of students fall. Many reports print a band around each percentile rather than a single point, a reminder that every score carries some wobble.

Norms were set for boys, girls and the combined group. Older reports sometimes show a percentile against the student's own gender only, which can move the number a fair way on subtests like Mechanical Reasoning and Language Usage, where the norm groups scored differently in 1990. Check which column you are reading before you compare two students.

Stanine 7 and up, and why the profile shape matters more

There is no pass mark. A stanine of 7 or higher, roughly the top quarter, marks a clear strength. Stanines 4 to 6 are typical, and 3 or lower marks a relative weak spot. More telling than any single score is the shape of the whole profile. A student at stanine 8 on Space Relations and Mechanical Reasoning but 5 on Verbal Reasoning is saying something different from one who scores 6 on everything, even if their totals match. Gaps of two stanines or more between subtests usually deserve a conversation, while smaller gaps can be chance.

The DAT scholastic aptitude score, Verbal Reasoning plus Numerical Ability, is a fair single read on academic readiness. Read on its own, though, it throws away the reason the test was built: to show how abilities differ within one person.

Practice fixes unfamiliar formats, not reasoning

Partly. Nobody lifts their reasoning a full level in a week, but an unfamiliar format costs points, and familiarity is easy to fix. A few timed sets of each item type, spread over one or two weeks, are enough for most people to stop losing minutes to instructions. Spelling and Language Usage respond to practice more than the reasoning subtests do, and Perceptual Speed rewards a steady pace over rushing. The dental DAT is a content exam that people usually prepare for over a few months, so a different plan applies there. For a topic-by-topic view of what aptitude tests in general cover, see our aptitude test syllabus.

Four groups end up on this page, and each needs something a little different from the DAT-5.

School counselors and psychologists with old results on file. A DAT-5 score still describes how that student did at the time, and the shape of the profile is still useful in a planning talk. What you cannot do is test new students against an out-of-print norm group, so new testing belongs on the current edition.

Psychology and education students. The DAT-5 is a textbook case of a test that reports abilities separately. Exams tend to ask about its norm sample, its reliability figures, the stanine scale and the Scholastic Aptitude composite, all covered above.

Students and adults told to "take the DAT". First confirm which test is meant. A school or employer today almost certainly means DAT Next Generation, and a dental school means the Dental Admission Test. Nobody can sit the fifth edition anymore.

Adults holding an old report of their own. It shows what you found easy to learn as a teenager. Using a DAT-5 result for career guidance works best when it is one clue among several: your grades, your interests and the work you still do when nobody is grading it. Our piece on what free aptitude tests tell you about a career walks through how to weigh that kind of result.

What happened to the DAT 5th Edition in 2014

In September 2014 the publisher withdrew the fifth edition, and it can no longer be ordered. So yes, the DAT-5 is discontinued, and the DAT name lives on in DAT Next Generation, an online test for ages 16 and up that adjusts each item to how you answered the last. The adult version from the paper era, the Differential Aptitude Tests for Personnel and Career Assessment (DAT for PCA), covered the same abilities with shorter timings for hiring and career counseling. The edition table near the top of this page lines up all three.

Out of print, so no price tag for the fifth edition

You cannot buy the fifth edition new. The historic catalog prices on the SRA Lab entry, around $20 each for test materials, the norms booklet and the technical manual, describe a product that is gone. DAT Next Generation is offered to schools and companies, with pricing set by the publisher on request, so most people who sit it pay nothing themselves. Prep packs from test-practice companies are sold separately and are not the test. Employers who want job-specific skills usually add a second test on top. For what that looks like, read about the technical skills assessment test.

Go Beyond the Differential Aptitude Test 5th Edition

Take two people whose DAT-5 profiles match: high on Space Relations and Mechanical Reasoning, average elsewhere. One becomes a contented machinist. The other trains as an engineer and leaves within five years, because the job turned out to be meetings and spreadsheets. The aptitude was there in both. What differed was how each of them preferred to spend a working day.

Pigment's career test looks at that side. Over roughly 120 forced-choice questions, you keep deciding which of two working habits is closer to how you operate, and the pattern shows how you make decisions, how you handle pressure and whether you think best alone or with a team. The 36-page report then names roles where a strong spatial or mechanical profile also suits your pace and decision style, so an old aptitude profile finally has somewhere to go. It is built for your own planning, and employers should not use it to pick candidates. The ideas behind it come from well-studied research on fit at work, while a peer-reviewed test of the questionnaire itself has not come out yet, so use it next to your DAT profile rather than in place of it.

Your DAT Profile Is a Start. See Which Work Fits You

Pigment's career test sorts careers by how well they match the way you work, so an old aptitude report becomes a short list you can act on. $79.99.

Try Pigment's career test