Badge Selective Attention on the NCJOSI-2
Selective attention is the ability to stay focused on a task and catch the details that matter, even when there is a lot of similar-looking information around them. Officers use it running plates, checking IDs and comparing a suspect description to the person in front of them.
This page explains what these questions ask of you, gives you one to try, and walks through a method for comparing information quickly without missing anything.
What the questions ask you to do
Selective attention questions test whether you can catch small details quickly and accurately. You might be asked to pick the option that matches a plate number, code or name exactly, to find specific items in a crowded list or table, or — as in the practice question below — to compare two sets of information, such as a dispatch record and an officer's notes, and find where they differ.
The differences are small on purpose: two digits swapped in a plate number, one letter changed in a name, or a single detail that doesn't match. Speed matters, but accuracy matters more.
Try a practice question
This question is original practice content written by Badge & Hose. Every name, place and rule in it is fictional.
| Row | Dispatch record | Officer's notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7KDM482, Ford, blue | 7KDM482, Ford, blue |
| 2 | 3RTW915, Honda, gray | 3RTW951, Honda, gray |
| 3 | 9BLX207, Toyota, white | 9BXL207, Toyota, white |
| 4 | 5HNP663, Chevrolet, black | 5HNP663, Chevrolet, blue |
| 5 | 2QVZ148, Nissan, red | 2QVZ148, Nissan, red |
How many rows have at least one difference between the dispatch record and the officer's notes?
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: 3
Row 2 ends in 915 in the dispatch record and 951 in the notes. Row 3 has BLX in the dispatch record and BXL in the notes. Row 4 lists the Chevrolet as black in the dispatch record and blue in the notes.
Rows 1 and 5 match exactly. The plate differences in rows 2 and 3 are the kind that are easy to miss, because only the order of two characters changes.
A method for comparison questions
Compare in small chunks
Break long strings into pieces of two or three characters, like 3RT / W91 / 5, and compare piece by piece. Your eyes skip over whole strings.
Check one field at a time
Compare every plate first, then every make, then every color. Switching back and forth between fields is where mistakes creep in.
Keep your place
Track which row you're on, with a finger or your pencil on scratch paper if allowed. Losing your place and rechecking a row wastes time and invites errors.
Count, then recount quickly
If the question asks how many, mark each difference as you find it. A quick second pass catches the one you skipped.
Common mistakes
Reading instead of comparing. Your brain fills in what it expects to see. Compare character by character rather than reading the whole entry.
Missing swapped characters. Swaps like 915 and 951 have the same characters in a different order, so they look right at a glance.
Counting the wrong thing. A question might ask how many rows differ or how many differences there are in total. Check which one is being asked before you count.
Rushing because it seems easy. These questions feel simple, which is exactly why careless mistakes happen.
Practice more selective attention questions
In Badge & Hose study mode you can focus on one ability at a time and see an explanation after every answer. Selective Attention practice is part of Full Prep, which covers all ten abilities. The free tier includes reading comprehension, writing, spatial orientation and visualization.