Aspirants willing to join India Armed Forces as an officer apply for it through different types of entries but one thing that all these entries have in common is Service Selection Board (SSB) interview process, in SSB interview a candidate’s skills are tested intellectually, physically, psychologically and through group activities. Under psychological test, four tests are conducted:
- Thematic Apperception Test (TAT )
- Word Association Test (WAT)
- Situation Reaction Test (SRT)
- Self-Description Test (SD)
What is TAT
Thematic Apperception Test in SSB consists of set of ambiguous pictures that will be shown to the candidate, while looking on these pictures candidates must create a theme like a story which requires a hero and a challenge, how the hero will overcome the crisis and succeed.
In TAT a candidate will be asked to write a story from his own based on the images shown. A candidate shouldn’t just use his memory blocks and start preparing a story, he/she needs to see that every third or fourth line there is different meanings are coming, try interpretation and analyze those meaning as third person because that meaning shows candidate’s state of mind.
Things to know while writing TAT
- Always start the story with the introduction of the central character. Avoid making it a group story such as a group of friends, you may use a central character and call others as his/her friends.
- Try to show some short sequence of actions that lead to the situation in the picture rather than suddenly making the situation appear out of the blues. This shows you’re able to organize your ideas in a better way.
- Avoid using negative words as much as you can. You’ll lose points for it as examiners are looking for your positive attitude in this stage.
- Avoid using a love affair plot in your story especially if you’re applying for a graduate entry. Your story will look immature for your level of mentality. It’s excusable for NDA and TES aspirants though.
- Never write a pre-conceived story. Also do not try to forcefully fit something in the picture. Write only around what is shown.
- Now some pictures may appear totally negative. A gloomy face, a dead body, an accident scene etc. For such cases putting negative words in the story is unavoidable. If you don’t it will give off a feeling that you’re trying to run from the situation. Just try to end it on a positive note.
Examples of TAT
