Word Association Test (WAT) is one of the four psychological tests employed by the SSBs in Phase 2 of their testing procedure to evaluate a candidate’s patterns of thought, personality, temperament, achievements, failures and emotional responses based on the principle of his/ her subconscious mind. In this test, a candidate is judged by the psychologist for his/ her OLQs. There are some things therefore, that a defence aspirant must know about WAT before appearing for the SSB Interview.

A list of 60 words in WAT are shown one by one on a screen to the candidates in SSB. These will be those types of words which are used in our day to day life. A total of 15 seconds will be given to the candidates to read a single word and write their response in the form of a complete sentence on their answer sheet. After 15 seconds, a new word will appear with a beep on the screen and the candidate has to repeat the same procedure.

Tips to Write Responses for WAT in SSB

• WAT is not a test of grammar or vocabulary. Write simple sentences containing not more than 4 to 5 simple words maintaining a simple grammatical structure. Concentrate mainly on the correct ideas.
• Do not mug up sentences for a word and write. Be natural and write whatever ideas come to your mind the first time you see the word.
• Avoid using single words, phrases, universal truths, or idiomatic expressions as they show no original thoughts. Try to write a complete sentence.
• Do not write the meaning of the word.
• Use the same word or its different parts of speech while forming a sentence. For e.g., Brave, Bravery, Braving, etc.
• Write positive, constructive, and meaningful sentences.
• Do not write negative or anti-social responses. The sentences should not display negative thoughts like fear, cowardice, carelessness, etc.
• Avoid using “I”, “Me” or “My” in the sentences. This will show you are self-centric. For e.g., Instead of writing “I choose my friends carefully”, you can say “They say to choose your friends carefully”.
• Avoid using any articles (‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’) in the sentences to make the sentences shorter.
• Maintain the serial in which the words are shown. Even if you are unable to write complete sentences for some, write the word down and later tactfully manage to construct short and easy sentences with the words (perhaps while turning or adjusting the pages).
• Try to incorporate at least one of the OLQs in each of your response.
• Try to avoid writing down your responses in a bad handwriting as much as possible.
• Avoid scribbling, over-writing or striking off the responses as much as you can. Even if you want to make a correction in the spelling of a word, strike neatly through the word only once and write down the correct spelling. But it is advisable to be super careful while writing down your responses on the answer sheet.
• Do not use modal verbs like ‘can’, ‘could’ ‘must’, ‘should’, ‘may’, ‘might’, ‘ought to’.
• Turn the negative words into positive by generating a positive response by two methods : (a) Denial method (which denies the negative words by using words like ‘no’, ‘not’ ‘never’ in a sentence) and (b) Remedial method (which remedies the negative word using words like ‘cures’, ‘removes’, ‘overcomes’, ‘eliminates’, etc. in a sentence). Take for example, a negative word like “Accident”. You can either write “Accidents don’t occur if we are careful on road” (Denial method) or “A stop in drink and drive prevents accidents” (Remedial method).

100+ New Words & Sample Responses

1. Garden – PM Modi addressed the Indians at Madison Square Garden in New York.
2. Cinema – Cinematography is taken up as a profession by many students nowadays.
3. Women – Respecting a woman makes for a true gentleman.
4. Persuade – Persuasive people always have half the battle won.
5. Religion – Religion is defined by our work, not god.
6. Compromise – National security can never be compromised.
7. Method – A methodized manner saves a situation.
8. Danger – Indian defence is always ready to face dangerous situations.
9. Time – A successful person completes everything within the assigned time.
10. Worry – It is not work but worry that is a concern.
11. Attack – Cyber-attacks are on rise in India.
12. Lonely – He was the lone survivor to help them in the avalanche.
13. Confusion – Many people confuse stroke with heart attacks.
14. Aggressive – The aggressive acquisition strategy was made into force by the officials.
15. Criticism – Although people criticized, he followed his mind and heart for this career.
16. Blind – Though blindfolded, the hostage managed to call the police.
17. Precaution – People were evacuated from the building as a precautionary measure.
18. Depression – People with depression need time and comfort.
19. Pity – It’s a pity that the nation is importing majority of the arms from the foreign lands.
20. Hungry – Being hungry of your dreams makes you work harder.
21. Team – Leadership is not all about leading, but about teamwork.
22. Never – An officer has a “never say die” attitude.
23. Weapon – Personal weapons are on rise in the market.
24. Imagination – People who work hard can easily imagine their goals.
25. Record – Instrumental music recording is very pleasant to listen.
26. Life – Life jacket is used as a precautionary step.
27. Face – Courage makes us face new challenges.
28. Playground – Mountains are a playground for adventure lovers.
29. Father – The Fatherof the Church pronounced them husband and wife.
30. Fault – Her superiors could not fault her dedication to the service.
31. System – Working in a systematic manner produces good results.
32. Impossible – Pessimists believe that a world at peace is an impossibility.
33. Heritage – Indian heritage is hundreds of years old.
34. Honey – Having honey daily in the morning is good for health.
35. Lies – The Indus Valley Civilization lies in ruin today.
36. Offer – Offering a drink to someone is a good ice breaker.
37. Meeting – Meeting new persons daily makes you socially adaptable.
38. Interest – Interest earned by banks from loans is the source of their income.
39. Save – Indian soldiers saved people trapped in the recent floods.
40. Doctor – Anyone next to God in saving life is a doctor.
41. India – India is a global face of growing technology and a developing nation.
42. Fire – Firefighters are the real heroes in fire operations.
43. Initiation – Make in India Initiative is very efficient for Indian economy.
44. Line – An officer is always available in the line of duty.
45. Tests – India has undergone various missile tests to strengthen country’s defence.
46. Jealous – Jealousy of others sometimes mean that you are doing great.
47. Difference – Differences in religion can’t divide true patriots.
48. Fool – Captain Vikram Batra fooled the insurgents and saved the lives of his soldiers.
49. Bitter – Raw berries have an intensely bitter flavour.
50. Board – He was recommended by the Service Selection Board.
51. Quality – Punctuality is an uncompromising quality of a good leader.
52. Hide – Hide and seek is an interesting game.
53. College – The electoral college chose her as a new representative.
54. Journal – Maintaining a journal helps in self-development.
55. Pet – A dog is the best pet a human can ever have.
56. Past –  He learned from his past mistake and corrected himself.
57. Behaviour – Her good behaviour earned her respect in the society.
58. Over – Overthinking mostly creates misunderstandings between people.
59. Literary – The literary works of the 19^th Century are fascinating.
60. Minister – The doctor was busy ministering to the injured.
61. Irritate – People who sleep less are often easily irritated.
62. Minor – The age of a minor in India is reduced to 16 years for heinous crimes.
63. Hurry – We hurried to help the people in need.
64. Thief – Poverty and lack of education drives many to become thieves.
65. Speed – Practising daily helped speed our progress.
66. Party – He threw us a party on his successful recommendation.
67. Advertisement – The best way to popularize a product is to advertise it.
68. Thank – The ministers thanked all the supporters and well-wishers after the elections.
69. Baby – Babies have 300 bones at the time of birth.
70. Discussion – The quality of group discussion teaches us to work in a team.
71. Quick – Quickness of decision was demonstrated by us.
72. Desire – It is desirable to exercise some social control over technology.
73. Craze – Genius people are sometimes thought to be crazy by the society.
74. Cooperation – The NIA is working in cooperation with the forces to resolve the terror issue.
75. Pursue – The police officer pursued the van till it caught the offenders.
76. Government – The victorious party gets to form the government in a democracy.
77. Friends – My friend took up accident surgery as his major and he earns quite well now.
78. Beauty – Very less people has the ability to admire natural beauty.
79. Step – Failure must be looked upon as steps towards success.
80. Future – Future is lighted by hard work and preparation.
81. Music – Learning to read music is an art in itself.
82. Soul – A soulmate is sometimes all it needs to complete the life.
83. Poetry – His love for poetry is very inspiring to others.
84. Tear – In anger, he tore the letter and later, regretted.
85. Lesson – Cadets in NDA are lessoned on war-tactics as well as on latest educational degree.
86. Family – Soldiers’ families are generally the most supportive people to them.
87. Pool – Pool tables are used to play billiards as well as snooker.
88. Class – “Wings of Fire” is an inspiring classic novel by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
89. Profession – Joining Army is more of a public service than a profession.

• Coeducation – There is a need to increase coeducation in India for a better mutual respect among both genders.
• Canteen – Armed forces provide canteen facilities to its members.
• All – Be accountable for all of your actions.
• Map – Unavailable resources can be mapped from nature.
• Contrary – Analyse a situation from the contrary view too.
• Die – Dinosaurs died out due to possible meteor attack.
• Paint – We paint our future based on what we do today.
• Down – An optimist person never looks down on anyone.
• Frank – Being frank to others is a good trait.
• Ghost – Even a ghost of happiness is enough to make others cheer.
• Angry – Controlling anger is the best practice for self-control.

I hope these new words and the sample responses for them will give you an idea of how to approach WAT. Practice these words along with some more lists of words daily for better understanding and performance in the SSB Interview. For more such lists of WAT practice words & sample responses, visit our blog at download our Learning App.