Audio Visual Memory Test: Format, Examples, Preparation

The audio visual memory test is the first place many candidates feel what aviation selection is really probing: two channels at once. You memorize a piece of visual information, then a voice starts issuing instructions, and at the end you must combine the two correctly. It is less about raw memory and more about disciplined filtering. This guide breaks down the format, the scoring, and the listening strategy that makes it manageable.

What is the Audio Visual Memory Test?

The test measures cross-modal working memory: holding a visual fact in mind while processing a stream of spoken information against it. That is the daily texture of both cockpits and control rooms. A pilot holds the departure restrictions in mind while listening to a revised clearance; a controller remembers which runway is closed while a pilot reads back taxi instructions.

The structure is a three step chain. First you see which corridors are closed and commit them to memory. Then you listen to spoken commands assigning cities to corridors, one after another. Finally you select only the cities that were sent to open corridors. Every command aimed at a closed corridor is a trap that must be recognized and dropped. If you enjoy the pure audio load of the running memory span test, this one adds the visual filter on top.

Which Exams Include the Audio Visual Memory Test?

Tasks that combine a memorized visual rule with spoken instructions are common across aviation screening. Candidates commonly report this test type in:

• DLR screenings, where audio memory stages are a well known hurdle
• FEAST and related ATC selection batteries, which lean heavily on listening plus rule filtering
• COMPASS and Advanced COMPASS by EPST, in combined memory sections
• ADAPT, in its multitasking and memory components
• Aon / cut-e batteries, which use closely related audio-visual combinations

Providers change their content without notice and publish no official syllabus, so read this as candidate-reported guidance rather than a promise.

How the Test Works: Format and Rules

The session runs in three strict phases:

• A corridor board appears. Some corridors are marked CLOSED. You get a short window to memorize which ones, then the board disappears.
• Spoken commands play one by one: a city and a corridor, such as "To Munich, on corridor 3". You cannot pause or replay them.
• At the end, a full list of cities appears. You select only the cities that were assigned to open corridors, then submit.

Suppose corridor 3 was closed. You hear "To Munich, on corridor 3" and then "To Oslo, on corridor 1". Munich must be dropped, Oslo must be selected. This is exactly how it looks in the test:

Difficulty scales on three axes at once:

1. Level 1: 4 instructions, 2 closed corridors, 20 seconds to answer
2. Level 2: 5 instructions, 2 closed, 24 seconds
3. Level 3: 6 instructions, 3 closed, 28 seconds
4. Level 4: 8 instructions, 3 closed, 34 seconds
5. Level 5: 10 instructions, 4 closed, 40 seconds

By Level 5 you are filtering ten spoken pairings through a four item blacklist held entirely in memory.

The closed corridors are the whole test. The cities are just traffic passing through your filter.

Scoring: What a Good Result Looks Like

Scoring compares your final selection against the true set of open-corridor cities. Both error types cost you: missing a city you should have kept, and selecting a city that went to a closed corridor. The second kind is the one assessors watch, because it means the filter failed rather than the memory. A strong result keeps false selections at zero and loses at most the odd city on the longest instruction runs.

How to Prepare: Strategies That Actually Work

1. Memorize the closed set as one word. Corridors 3 and 7 closed becomes "three-seven". Chant it once and it survives the whole audio phase.
2. Judge each command at the moment you hear it. Decide keep or drop instantly, then store only the kept city. Storing everything for later sorting doubles your load and fails at higher levels.
3. Store kept cities as a growing sentence. "Oslo, Madrid, Prague" repeated rhythmically in your head is far more durable than three separate facts.
4. Do not rehearse dropped cities. The fastest way to select Munich by mistake is to keep thinking about Munich. Let it go completely.
5. Train with headphones at increasing list lengths. Comfort with 4 instructions says nothing about 10; push the list length in practice beyond what the assessment uses.
6. Warm up the visual side too. The visual memory test trains fast, deliberate encoding of the corridor board.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Memorizing the open corridors instead of the closed ones. The closed set is smaller; always memorize the smaller set.
• Trying to remember every city and sort at the end.
• Losing the closed set halfway through the audio because it was never properly encoded.
• Second-guessing a correct drop during the selection phase.

Practice This Skill

Filtering under audio load is a trainable reflex, not a talent. Build it with the Audio Visual Memory module, which reproduces the corridor board, the spoken commands and the final selection exactly as described here. Level 1 is free, and the guided tutorial shows you the full flow before your first attempt.