How the Attention to Detail (Textual) test works
After a few unscored practice questions, the 16 scored questions run on one 12-minute clock. Each shows a short piece of workplace text, such as a marketing line, an instruction or a set of details, and asks you to count or find what has changed.
There are three kinds of question. Matching information: four versions of one snippet, and you say how many different versions there are. Comparing statements: a Sentence A and a Sentence B, and you count the words and punctuation marks that differ, from none to three. Checking consistency: three sentences about one subject, and you pick the one that contradicts the others or say they all agree.
The changes are small on purpose: a digit swapped, a comma added, a word ending altered, a word shortened to an abbreviation. TestGorilla rates the test Intermediate and suggests it for roles such as accountants, editors, quality assurance staff, data analysts and administrators.
How to check text without missing changes
Reading for meaning is what makes people miss changes. Switch to checking:
- Read the first version once so you know what it says. From then on, compare it piece by piece: each number, each punctuation mark, each word ending.
- Check in a fixed order every time: digits first, then punctuation, then spellings and word forms, then abbreviations such as St for Street.
- For four versions, compare B, C and D against A and note which ones match it. Then compare the ones that do not match A with each other: two versions can both differ from A and still be identical.
- For two sentences, keep a tally on paper, one stroke for each change you can point to.
- For three sentences, write down each fact they state, such as a day, a time or an amount, and look for the sentence that gives a different value.
Worked examples
Matching. How many different versions are there? A: Unit 14, Harbour Road, Leeds LS9 8RT. B: Unit 14, Harbour Road, Leeds LS9 8RT. C: Unit 14, Harbor Road, Leeds LS9 8RT. D: Unit 41, Harbour Road, Leeds LS9 8RT.
A and B are identical, so they are one version. C changes the spelling of Harbour and D swaps 14 to 41, and C and D also differ from each other. That makes three different versions.
Comparing. A: Orders received after 3 pm on Friday will be dispatched on the following Tuesday. B: Orders received after 3 pm on Friday, will be dispatch on the following Tues. How many differences? Options: 0, 1, 2, 3.
There is a new comma after Friday, dispatched has become dispatch, and Tuesday has become Tues. That is 3. Read for meaning, B still makes sense, which is why the word-form change is the one most people miss.
Tips for the real Attention to Detail test
- Keep pen and paper beside you for tallies. TestGorilla allows them.
- Budget about 45 seconds a question. The four-version questions take longest, so do not let one of them eat two minutes.
- Count only changes you can point to. If you have found two and suspect a third, check the digits and punctuation once more, then answer.
- Answer every question. A skip is scored as wrong, and a wrong answer costs nothing extra, so even a guess is worth making.
- Submit with Next before the clock reaches zero. A selected answer that has not been submitted is lost.
Practise Attention to Detail (Textual) on CogniPrep
Ours has 16 questions on one 12-minute clock, generated fresh each sitting, with the three question types split as evenly as 16 allows. The changes hide in digits, punctuation, word forms and abbreviations. One question per screen, no going back, and a skip is marked wrong. At the end you get a raw percentage and a percentile against CogniPrep players, with harder questions weighted more, plus feedback on each question type and on the kinds of change you missed.