Electronic Data Processing Aptitude (EDPT)
What this domain tests
The Electronic Data Processing Test is a timed, multiple-choice aptitude battery used to screen candidates for data-processing, programming, and cyber roles. It does not test programming syntax, prior IT coursework, or hardware trivia. It tests whether you can hold a rule in working memory, apply it exactly, and recognize a pattern fast enough to finish - the operations a machine performs, executed by hand. The sections commonly reported are arithmetic reasoning, number series, verbal analogies, and figural analogies, around 120 items in roughly 90 minutes, with no calculator.
Core rules and concepts
- Arithmetic reasoning: multi-step word problems - rate × time, percent increase/decrease, weighted averages, ratio splits, combined work rates. Convert every quantity to one unit before you calculate; the arithmetic itself is easy, the setup is the test.
- Number series: the rule is a repeatable operation between consecutive terms, or between two interleaved subsequences. Test candidates in order: constant difference → constant ratio → alternating (two-step) → squares, cubes, primes → second-order differences (difference of the differences).
- Verbal analogies: turn the stem into a full sentence ("A is the tool used by B"), then demand the answer pair satisfy the same sentence in the same direction, with matching part of speech and specificity.
- Figural analogies: decompose each figure into attributes - count of elements, number of sides, shading, position, rotation angle, open vs. closed - and track one attribute at a time from A to B, then apply that change to C.
Worked example
Series: 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, ?
First differences: 4, 8, 16, 32 - each doubles. The next difference is 64, so the next term is 63 + 64 = 127. Verify with a second route: each term equals the previous term × 2 + 1 (3→7, 7→15, 15→31, 31→63), so 63 × 2 + 1 = 127. Two independent routes agreeing is the fastest way to stop second-guessing and move on.
Traps that cost marks
- Anchoring on the first plausible number: distractors are built from partial work (using 32 instead of 64 above). Confirm before selecting.
- Off-by-one counting: the number of integers from 15 to 63 inclusive is 63 − 15 + 1 = 49, not 48.
- Unit drift: minutes against hours, cents against dollars, monthly against annual rates.
- Reversed analogies: a choice that fits the sentence but runs B-to-A instead of A-to-B.
- Over-investing: at roughly 45 seconds per item, a stalled series costs you three you could have solved.