TLDR: Work on your math, ANIT knowledge, and try to get some time in with a joystick.
So buckle up because I might write a bit of a book here. I'm taking a swing at trying to help you figure out exactly what it is that you're missing, and thus that you need to study. First, take a look at your scores and think about what they mean. This shows how each subtest affects each score:
https://www.airwarriors.com/community/threads/aqr-pfar-fofar-subtest-score-composition.43579/
I'll focus on PFAR since that's the score us SNA hopefuls really care about. A 5 is solidly in the middle of the bell curve. For PFAR, the Math, ANIT, and PBM sections of the test are what you want to focus on. Since both your OAR and AQR scores were also in the middle of the bell curve, that tells me your math was likely also not bad, but not great. So if I were you, I'd really hammer as much math into my head as I possibly could for next time. Specifically practice tests/problems and lots of them. Second section is the ANIT. Do as many flashcards as you can. Look at the stuff on kyle's guide about aviation history, principles of flight, etc. Read some of the FAA private pilot handbooks and parts of the AIM. This section I had a hard time studying for because it's really just a large collection of facts and trivia.
The final and most difficult section to study for is the PBM. Take a look at this study that was put out by the Naval Postgraduate School:
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA475866
It's long, and if you have some time, you can read the whole thing, but specifically look at the stuff starting at page 15(I think it's page 35 of the pdf as a whole) where they start going over exactly what the PBM section of the test is and what they're looking for. For the target tracking section, they literally tell you how they score it. This is directly from that study,
"
Three scores are recorded for this task. The first is
a total number of correct responses. A correct response is
recorded when the pixel distance between the crosshair and
aircraft is within a programmed range at a predetermined
time check during the task. The second score recorded is an
error average distance. This distance is the average
distance observed between the center point of the crosshair
and the center point of the aircraft over the duration of
the subtest. The third score is for the total number of
redirects recorded during the task. A redirect is recorded
when the subject maintains the crosshair on top of the
aircraft for brief amount of time causing the aircraft to
change course."
So basically they want you on top of the target as long as possible, it will cause a redirect and you chase it down, and repeat. The target's movement is not 100% random. It responds to you. In this section, I think going into it with the mindset of forcing the test to respond to
you rather than you responding to the test is important. Also something that I've heard many times is to
listen first then track the 2d target, then track the 1d in your peripheral vision. You should be 100% on the dichotic listening.
I hope all that was at least somewhat helpful. Good luck on your next attempt.
