Psychology tests at SSB: TAT, WAT, SRT and Self description

We know that SSB interview is purely a personality test and personality is more of behavior & thoughts of a person rather than a physical trait. In Psychology tests at SSB- we collect responses from a candidate to series of stimuli and extrapolate the responses to identify the personality traits of that person. The entire Psychometric test series at SSB stands on a technique called projective technique. In which responses are collected from candidate to a ambiguous stimuli(TAT pictures, WAT words, SRT situation completions). As It is a time bound activity(candidate has to write the response in short period of time) the true personality tends to come out.

watch below video to understand projective technique in psychology:

with these assessors will get wholistic picture of a candidate and it becomes easy to find does the candidate have it in him/her? Is the candidate dependable/trustworthy? Is the candidate capable of  leading men into war, if required? Is he trainable/moldable to be an officer?

basically they check for Officer Like Qualities(OLQS)

Day-2 at SSB is generally psychology day. In this blog lets peek in and understand, what are the parts of the Psyc tests conducted at SSB? and see samples of each type. At the end We have also answered some FAQs.

there are four types of psychometric tests(responses) taken

1. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
2. Word Association Test (WAT)
3. Situation Reaction Test (SRT)
4. Self-Description Test (SD)

Lets see one after other in detail-

1)TAT (Thematic Apperception Test):

In this test, set of 12 pictures will be shown to you one after other, in a particular sequence you will have to write a story for each picture within given time. The picture will be flashed for 30 seconds and after that 4 minutes will be given to write the story and then next picture is shown for 30 seconds, test will continue so on and so forth.

Last slide(12th slide) will be invariably blank. You are free to write any story for that slide but base rule for first 11 slides is  that the story should revolve around the theme shown in the picture.

There is no precise word limits for the story but instructions will be to keep the story crisp, words ranging from 70 to 100.

While writing the story let your thoughts and emotions free.

Typical instructions given before TAT is-

"write crisp story  around the picture of 70 to 100 words; let free your thoughts; keep in mind to express the feeling, emotions and thoughts as free as possible without paying attention to the beauty of the expression; The story should contain- what lead to to the situation, what is currently happening what is most likely outcome";

Sample picture and story: Story: Mylene a young agriculture scientist was on a survey in village Rampur. While surveying she finds out the village farmers were using age old obsolete techniques to farm. After survey Mylene gets approval and help from higher officials to organize a training sessions to train and introduce farmers to new, efficient methods of farming. In next season of crops she showed demo/test of techniques. The farmers slowly implemented new methods and got significant increase in yield.

2)WAT(Word Association Test):

Similar to TAT; 60 words will be flashed on the screen one after other. each word will be there on the screen for 15 seconds. in that time you will have to write a sentence associating that word.

The sentence can have any form of the word; Assessor is interested in seeing "how the candidate associate with the shown word" 

For example in below sample word help candidate has associated with helping juniors that to in career.

Sample WAT words and responses: Help — Help juniors to advance in their career. Organize — Bottomline employees are real bone of organization. Action — Plan before action. Determination — Determination and planned roadmap will lead to success. Imagination — Imaginations can take to places which we cant imagine.

• As the time period to write response for each word is only 15 seconds, try to be crisp with the sentences and don't pay much attention to beauty of the expression (as instructed).
• Keep in mind to attend minimum of 45 words out of 60. That is the criteria.
• Practicing couple of WAT sets prior to SSB would help. on YouTube you will get many such sets with timings.

link is provided here--> WAT sample set

3)SRT (Situation Reaction Test):

In this test, a booklet with 60  ambiguous situations will be given and 30 minutes to write responses/reactions- that gives 30 secs to read, understand and write response to one situation.

Again like WAT try to be crisp and write at least 45 SRT responses.

Sample situations and response to them: 1. He is having high fever and he was told to walk a long distance by his NCC commander. Solution: tell NCC commander the situation and take sick off, medical aid and rest. 2. He was selected as the leader of the mountain expedition, for which, he has to leave the next day. He got a call about his grandmother being ill. Solution: speak to grandmother over phone and let parents take care of the situation and lead the expedition. 3. He was served with a challenge by the college bully when he reported against him to the principal when the latter tried to beat his friend. Solution: get his friend out of situation and report to principal about indiscipline. 4. His friends want to organize a party for one of his favorite lecturers who was retiring, but he is short on money. Solution: gets money from friend and repays him later. 5. He was on a cycle expedition with his friends when his cycle gave up in the middle of the desert. Solution: with the help of friends cross the remaining part of desert and get the cycle fixed and continue.

Many of the situations will be day to day facing problems. so for a average candidate it should not be a problem to relate to the situation and write his/her action; one advice could be write crisp and practical responses.  I see many candidates write heroic responses ending up exaggerating the situation.

even though there is no good response and bad response to a situation, some times candidates tend to write impractical solutions. Please avoid such. example of  impractical  (bad)  responses.

1. He is having high fever and he was told to walk a long distance by his NCC commander.
Solution: He takes over the challenge and motivates/leads his troop covers the distance in record time.

2. He was selected as the leader of the mountain expedition, for which, he has to leave the next day. He got a call about his grandmother being ill.
Solution: Leads the mountain expedition, covers it soon in record time; takes flight to home takes grandmother to hospital; make sure she is doing fine; comes back and joins the unit.

All over the place we have seen the advise to attempt at least 45 SRTs and WATs. here is reason to that

Why should we attend minimum of 45 SRTs/WATs?

45 out of 60 stimulus is average count at any competent person can attempt. If at all any candidate is attempting less than 45 SRT or WAT it is evident that the candidate is slow in comprehending the situation and slow in decision making (or manipulating his/her responses).

4)SD(Self Description):

In this part of test, candidate will have to write 5 paragraphs about himself/herself in 15 minutes. Those 5 sections should answer to below 5 questions individually.

1. What do your parents think of you?
2. What do your teacher/employer think of you?
3. What does your friend/colleagues think of your self?
4. What do you think of yourself?
5. What are your future goals? or what are the improvements needed in you?

Here we have given a sample SD of a working candidate which you can refer and learn from.

Sample SD:  i.             Opinion of parents: My parents think I am self reliant, loyal and responsible child. My parents think I am helpful and understand them. They appreciate & support my achievements and progress, all from school, college and in company. They suggest me to become more disciplined.  ii.           Opinion of teachers/employer: My boss thinks I am a guy with good attitude. He thinks I am a good learner and open for new opportunities so he trusts me with new deployments. He also appreciates my active participation in CSR activities and my helping nature. He recognizes my growth-mentality. iii.        Opinion of friends/colleague: My friends think I am optimistic in nature, who can motivate them; so trust my suggestions at hard times. They feel I am empathetic so they like sharing info. with me. My colleagues appreciate my hardworking and helping nature. iv.         Own opinion:  I am optimistic with fair communication capabilities. I think I am self motivated and hardworking person. I believe ANY skill can be learnt with adequate practice and patience; that belief has made me a good learner. I consider calmness and precision in thinking are my key strengths. v.           Improvements needed: I want to be a good leader possibly in Indian Navy; for that I want level up my physical fitness, professionalism, communication skills and knowledge.

We have also found a clear explanation about SD on Quora by Col M. M. Nehru, which we highly recommend you to read.

Quora link to Col M. M. Nehru's SD explanation : https://qr.ae/pNjXmN

Advice/Tips on SSB Psychology tests:

1. Do not go prepared with readymade stories and responses: I see lot of candidates go to SSB with ready made stories, memorized WAT sentences and SRT responses. Do not waste your time in any of such misconceptions. It only hinders your performance. Write using your commonsense.
2. Do not memorize WATs and SRTs: Again this point is in context with above one, I have seen many candidates memorizing WAT sentences and SRT reactions. Do not fall for such. remember SSB is personality test not academic or English test. Instead of over practicing and memorizing SRT and WATs; work on your practical sense and general knowledge - that makes you a competent person.
3. Don't be a super hero- be practical: Many candidates tend to think it is essential to tackle all the problems given, in a perfect manner like a Bollywood hero. Those candidates are doing nothing but digging their own grave in selection perspective. such superman stuffs, over enthusiastic stories/responses lead to sure rejection. As mentioned earlier, these psych tests nothing but common sense and practical intelligence. So- Try to put yourself in the situation and think what is practically possible to solve the conflict.
4. jitna sochoge utna nochoge: I have seen candidates; thinking too much and going into viscous cycle of introspection. Once they go into this phase of thinking they tend to see and only see- all the wrong in their personality and actions. So it better if you think less about your personality flaws rather than start working to improve it.
5. No correct or No wrong answers: Think SSB as just a test but remember  it is a personality test and hence there is NO correct or NO wrong responses. Its just a personality that changes and the board is interested to select the candidates whos personality is well suited for armed forces.

Some FAQs on SSB Psychology tests:

1)What if I miss A WAT word/SRT response in between?

Answer: that is totally fine! if you leave one or two in between; It is totally fine if you are unable to complete all 60 of them. But do not leave too many in between and attempt at least 45 WAT and 45 SRT. As it clearly shows slowness in the decision making.

2)Is it okay if I leave a TAT?

Answer: It is Advised to attend all the TAT; Do not leave anyone in between.

3)Can we prepare story for blank slide before hand ?

Answer: Yes, you can go prepared for blank story; Infact it is convenient to go prepared for blank story(atleast have the theme of the story ready in your mind).

4)Can we prepare SD before hand?

Answer: Yes, It is most convenient move to go with prepared SD. As there will be only 15 minutes(sometimes 10 minutes).

5)How to prepare for Psychology tests?

Answer: No much preparation is required for Psychology tests. I have seen many candidates preparing psychology tests every day; I have also seen people memorizing TAT; WAT and SRTs which is dumbest thing to do. Advice is just write a set of WAT; SRT; TAT a week before SSB interview so that you will know where do you stand and just to get yourself familiar with the process. Remember there are only two things you should go prepared with 1)SD 2)blank slide story.

6)Will interviewing officer uses SD?

Answer: No, interviewing officer will not have access to any of the psychological test materials/responses of the candidate.

7) Is Psych test more important than other tests?

Answer: No, GTO and personal interview are equally important.

8)Should the TAT stories revolve around self? should main character in the TAT/PPDT story be of same age as candidate?

Answer: There is no such rule. it is just a widly spread myth that trait and age of main character of the story should match to candidates age, trait and character. 

Advice is just write the stories with free mind without any preconceived mental blocks (your personality traits will automatically come out) 

9) Is grammar and beauty of sentence important in psychology tests?

Answer: It is not very important; the sentence should be conveyable. 

10)Is it okay if I attempt less than 45 SRT/WAT?

Answer: No, minimum criteria is to attempt at least 45. 

People say quality response is more important than going more than 45- it is bullshit.

11)How people get recommended by attempting less than 45 SRT or WAT?

Answer: If it is less than 45; it is NO from Psychology officer. however decision to recommend(select) a candidate is taken at conference(day-5). At the conference opinions from all the three assessors is considered and result is declared.  

15 OLQs: Qualities being checked in a candidate at SSB

Services selection boards interview are one of the toughest interviews in India. It is so, for a reason to filter candidates who are worthy to be officers. SSB interview is nothing but a series of personality tests. It assesses to find whether the candidates have it in them to lead men into battels without any specials incentives but a possibility of casuality or even death.

Those qualities are of an Army/Navy/Airforce officers, which in short known as OLQs(Officer Like Qualities). 

There were totally 21 OLQs at the inception of SSB in after changes it has been brought down to 15. Those qualities are bifurcated into four factors, those are as shown below

Factor I: Planning and Organizing

1)Effective Intelligence

2)Reasoning Ability

3)Organizing Ability

4)Power of expression

Factor II: Social Adjustment

5)Social adaptability

6)Cooperation

7)Sense of responsibility

Factor III: Social effectiveness

8)Initiative

9)Self confidence

10)Speed of decision

11)Ability to influence group

12)Liveliness

Factor IV: Dynamic

13)Determination
14)Courage
15)Stamina

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Lets briefly understand one after other; what each quality mean.

1)Effective Intelligence:

It is the capability of an person to solve practical daily problems; It is different from basic intelligence (which is measured in stage-1 as OIR tests).

2)Reasoning Ability:

It is the ability of a person to understand any situation and reason the cause and effects of it, with application of logic. In Hindi it is known as Tark shakti. 

3)Organizing Ability:

As the name suggests, it is the capacity of a person to organize resources, problems, thoughts and ideas.

Just to explicitly mention here the resources could be any useful thing money, time, material and human resource.

4)Power of expression:

This is the most basic and important quality of a person. It is ability of the candidate to communicate his/her thoughts opinions and ideas effectively with ease. 

This includes effectiveness in verbal, non-verbal and written communication.

5)Social adaptability:

It  is the ability of a person to adapt to any situation, group or social environment very quickly. Adaptability will be well enhance with quick learning and reasoning ability.

6)Cooperation:

Cooperation is basically person's attitude towards collaboration and team work. It is how he reacts to difference in ideas and opinions for the collective cause. Anywhere in social scenario group goal comes first then comes individual ambition.

Dictionary meaning of cooperation: The action or process of working together to the same end.

 

7)Sense of responsibility:

It is the understanding and clarity in mind of a person in performing his/her roles well without reminder or no ones forceful instructions. Roles could be of a child, student, citizen and teammate etc.

8)Initiative:

Taking first step towards team/collective goal and sustaining  the zeal until it is achieved.

9)Self confidence:

It is the faith in one's own abilities. (especially at unfamiliar situations)

 

10)Speed of decision:

As the name suggest; It is the ability of a person to come at workable decisions fast and accurate.

 

11)Ability to influence group:

As the name suggests It is the ability to make his/her followers to work/behave as intended.

As mentioned in the beginning of the blog; officers has lead men into battels without any specials incentives but a possibility of casuality. So the qualities mentioned so far, especially ability to influence group is essentially should be there in an officer.

12)Liveliness:

It is the capability off a person to be joyous and inspiring even if the situation get stressful. Optimism, clarity off thoughts and control over his/her emotions comes into play here.

13)Determination:

It is sticking to what he/she believes right; until the end. 

In other words it is a sustained effort to achieve objectives in sprite of obstacles and setbacks.

14)Courage:

It is capability of a person to appreciate and take well purposed (and calculated) risks. Courage has two forms to it  (i)Moral courage: standing for what is right.  and (ii)Physical courage: Standing for physical risks.

15)Stamina:

As all knows, It is capability of a person to withstand physical and mental stress. It includes both physical and mental endurance.

Assessors at SSB check for above qualities using different tools in various tasks/tests of Individual interview, GTO tasks and Psychological tests. Now the question is

As a candidate/defense aspirant, should you know about 15 OLQs?

The single and straight forward answer is NO. Some people say it is better to know OLQs, some coaching classes even guide aspirants wrongly to portray OLQs on purpose. 

but remember, by just fake portrayal and mugging up officer like qualities you will not gain them. It takes time and effort to inculcates each qualities unless you have them as a part of your upbringing.