How the Pfeiltest works
The Bundeswehr lists reaction ability (“Reaktionsfähigkeit”) as one of the areas its computer test covers. Candidates describe the task that tests it: four fields, top, bottom, left and right, with one blue and one red arrow shown at once. Below or beside them is an answer pad of four fields.
For each pair you give two answers: where one arrow sits, and which way the other arrow points. Candidates agree on three seconds per pair. Accounts differ on which colour asks for which property, so the on-screen instructions decide.
What makes it hard is interference. An arrow sitting in the left field may point up, and you must answer with the property you were asked for while ignoring the other.
How to answer inside three seconds
Settle the rule before the first display, then repeat it every time:
- Read the instructions for the colour rule and say it to yourself once: for example, “blue where, red which way”.
- Look at the arrow you answer first and take only its property. Ignore its other property completely.
- Answer, then switch to the second arrow and take the other property.
- Keep your hand on the mouse near the answer pad so no time goes on moving.
- After a mistake, let it go. The next pair arrives at once.
Worked example
The rule is: first the blue arrow’s position, then the red arrow’s direction. The blue arrow sits in the right field and points down. The red arrow sits in the top field and points left.
First answer: right, where the blue arrow is. Second answer: left, where the red arrow points. Pressing down for the blue arrow would be answering its direction, the most common slip. If your test uses the opposite rule, the same display needs down, then top.
Tips for the real Pfeiltest
- Use the practice items candidates report before each section to lock in the colour rule.
- Aim for accurate rather than lightning fast. Three seconds is enough for two clicks if you do not hesitate.
- Most errors come from answering the wrong property, not from being slow. Name the property in your head as you look.
- Sleep well the night before. Reaction tasks suffer more from tiredness than reasoning tasks do.
- The task uses no language, so practice transfers fully.
Practise the Pfeiltest on CogniPrep
Our Pfeiltest gives you 48 displays in two blocks of 24, with three seconds for both answers and a 10-second pause between blocks. Answer the blue arrow’s position first, then the red arrow’s direction. In half the displays each arrow points away from the field it sits in. A display counts only if both answers are right inside the window, and your score is the share of displays you got fully right; speed inside the window is shown but not scored. The display count, blocks and colour rule are ours.