The Basic Attributes Test (BAT) contributes to a U.S. Air Force pilot selec
tion composite known as the Pilot Candidate Selection Method(PCSM). When PC
SM was operationally implemented in 1993, no retests were permitted on the
BAT. To determine the effects of retesting on mean score change and reliabi
lity, the BAT was administered to 477 college students who were then retest
ed after 2 weeks, 3 months, or 6 months. Several important findings were ob
served. First, about 70% of the students exhibited score improvement on ret
est, regardless of length of retest interval. Those who performed poorly on
the ist test generally exhibited larger improvements than those who perfor
med well on the ist test. Second, practice effects diminished as the length
of the retest interval increased. For a 6-month retest interval, it was ex
pected that the mean increase in PCSM scores would be about 6 percentile po
ints. The results suggest that BAT retests could be permitted no less than
6 months after initial testing. Third, and very important, BAT scores demon
strated acceptable reliability. The reliability of the psychomotor composit
e ranged from .775 to .800, and the reliabilities for the other subtests ra
nged from .474 to .871.