How to Prepare for Psychology Test in SSB in 2021 | With Examples

The selection procedure of the Service Selection Board is a joint assessment of three military & civil expertise such as:

• Group Testing Officer (GTO) (Defense officer),
• Interviewing Officer (IO) (Defense service Officer),
• Psychologist (Civilian scientist/Defense Service Officer)

All three assessors, through their specialization, will be responsible for finding out the potential of the candidate who could become a defense service officer after fixed scheduled training at various military training academies like IMA, OTA, etc.

Who is Psychologist in SSB?

The Psychologist is qualified to study the mind & behaviour of the individual who plays a role to identify the candidate’s ability and suitability to perform at the time of adversaries so that the candidate can become a successful military leader after his/her training.

Hence, the psychology test of the SSB is one of the three most important techniques to identify the potential officer of the Indian Armed Forces.

As you know, psychology is the study of the mind, how it works and how it affects behavior.

Therefore, the person who specializes in the analysis of mind and behavior is called a psychologist.

Role of Psychologist in SSB

The Psychologist posted in the SSB center will identify the candidate’s decision-making capability, stress management, and predictability.

He will also determine the candidate’s mental, emotional, and behavioral abilities in various situations.

During SSB, the Psychologist also studies the candidate’s pattern of thoughts, characteristics, emotional intelligence, productivity, and decision capacity.

Defense Institute of Psychological Research(DIPR) qualified scientists will assess candidates through four different written methods to know about candidates’ capacity behavior in a given situation.

The Psychologist will know about the level of motivation, leadership traits, communication skills, emotional intelligence, decision-making capacity, foresight, etc.

The psychological test enables the Psychologist to understand the candidate’s ability to project himself as “an average intellect, an involved and responsible member of the society.”

Therefore, the Psychologist will read & understand each written communication of the candidate and conclude that the distinctive and unique personality is fit for the requirement of the Armed Forces.

In addition, the written communication test is also the medium of understanding the candidate’s behavior pattern in various reactions in a given situation( or tests).

In this article, you will get a fair idea about various tests conducted by the Psychologist during the five days of SSB.

This article will also give you an adequate amount of practical knowledge about suitable preparation techniques by which the candidate can confidently attend each test.

This understanding of the psychology test in the SSB will enable the candidate to succeed in his ultimate aim of joining the defense force as an officer.

How To Prepare For Psychology Test In SSB | General Understanding

Candidates can be a little nervous while appearing for the SSB, especially the Psychological Tests.

There is a lot of confusion in a candidate’s mind regarding the psychological tests due to obvious reasons.

Various methods can assess the skill and knowledge of a person, and by constant practice, one can improve his knowledge and skill. Whereas chances of improving one’s “Psychology” are limited.

Though education helps develop a sound mind in a good body, there are no standard parameters for measuring the sound mind in a person. So then, how is it done in the SSB?

Every human being in this world has his/ her own identity. Each person is unique! And this is what each candidate has to remember while appearing for Psychological Tests.

Keeping this in mind, one doesn’t need any coaching for psychological tests. If that be so, how can one prepare for the same?

Preparation for SSB psychological tests implies brushing up the environment through which the candidate has grown up.

As you know, both heredity and environment mold a person’s character. And Psychologists confirm that through various tests.

What are the Different Psychology Tests in SSB?

There are four very distant and different written methods used to identify the candidate’s behavior in various situations. The tests are as given below:

a) Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

b) Situation Reaction Test (SRT)

c) Word Association Test (WAT)

d) Self Description Test (SD)

The Psychologist will know the candidate’s Officer Like Qualities (OLQ) & the behavioral factors in a routine and complicated situation through the below four tests.

This will highlight the leadership qualities, including responsibility, foresight, integrity, ability to delegate, Communication, Self-awareness, Gratitude, Learning agility, Influence, Courage, and respect.

a) Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Thematic Apperception Test or TAT is based on similar lines of PDT. Though here, this is the first written test that is conducted during the psychological tests. The candidate is allowed to write a small story about the given picture.

A candidate must keep in mind some important facts while attempting TAT, such as:

• What led to the story or the background
• What is happening in the story or the present, and
• The possible outcome or the conclusion/future.

In short, you have to see the past, present, and future in each story.

You may find a central character/hero/ heroine around whom the story is developed at each level.

Some of you may think that the main character represents yourself.

From the psychological point of view, The TAT is a combination of imagination and reaction.

Your personality may be reflected through these characters, and the limited time is given for each picture. Thus, it has scope for both reaction and imagination.

Ideally, the candidate should write a small introduction(i.e., the background of the picture-unseen and imaginary) and eight or ten sentences of the present situation and its activities/reactions.

Finally, he/she should conclude with a future hint on the current situation (This is also called the conclusion).

Psychologists try to find out your plight or imagination, fantasies moving around an individual object – relationship.

It also clarifies your emotional setup, frustrations, fear, guilt complexes, ambitions, interests, and group tendencies.

TAT also provides the assessment with an idea about your power of expression/communication.

The requirement is to observe the picture for all details: including persons, items that matter, and activity background. Then, having assimilated the data, weave a short story relating to the image-making here.

It would help if you imagined the events that lead to the particular situation. Finally, develop the present situation and end the story with an appropriate, pleasant, optimistic ending.

The Three Approaches For Story:

1. A hero and other characters
2. A theme
3. Actions led to the situations, present situations, and the right end.

SSB Psychological Test Tips While Attempting TAT:

• Give a short name to the hero
• Build a simple plot for the theme
• Write the story in about half a page, say 12-14 lines only
• Do not describe the picture – you will be wasting time
• Relate your story to practical life and do not the wishful.

In a laymen way, TAT will prepare with the following parameters:

(a) A healthy, positive and realistic story with a happy, optimistic theme, underline the story

(b) Do not be maroon or pessimistic

(c) Avoid ante social thoughts

(d) Do not show fear; at the same time, do not show overconfidence and bravery

(e) Do not show the tendency to give up under stress and strain.

(f) Do not show inferior complex

(g) Show cooperative, adaptable group spirit, and helpful attitude.

(h) Show concern for others

(i) Show urgency in your efforts

(j) Write logically in short, crisp sentences

(k) Practice as many stories as possible.

(l) Be passionate and foresight.

(m) Be socially involved & active. The levels are related to the pictures shown as also recurring life events.

Don’ts for TAT

• No lengthy introduction and conclusion
• No superman character and story imagination
• Avoid location/place specific

b) Situation Reaction Test (SRT)

This test is designed to analyze a person concerning his/her power of reasoning, analytical ability, logical thinking, compassion, wisdom, and priority of the task.

You may be given a situation wherein two or more tragedies may strike at the same time. In this situation, react as a wise man. Where the life of people is involved, you may have to sacrifice a life to save many.

Please don’t be selfish in reacting to these situations. Your empathy towards the action is very much important.

Each one us would face different types of problems and situations.

The situation of pleasant, sad, ordinary, natural, complex will arise in your day-to-day life. Some of them are cyclic, some are seasonal, and others are one in a lifetime.

For example, monsoon floods are widespread and seasonal, whereas Covid -19 situation is once in a lifetime situation.

As a leader, handle the case entirely rather than giving an incomplete solution.

60 SRTs in 30 minutes is not easy and needs a lot of concentration, convention, and presence of mind.

Points to Remember

• Write what comes to your mind and don’t ponder what will impress the assessors. The idea behind the task is to judge your personality qualities.

• Analyze the situations and try finding a practical solution to the problem. Rather than concentrating on the quantity, focused on the quality.

• Analyze the problem and situation, keep yourself as a protagonist, and answer in a short, simple, and straightforward way. Don’t try to manipulate the ideas here.

• The psychology tests are not trying to make you ‘lose.’ They are trying to judge your psyche and how you would perform in different pressures and situations.

• Every day you must carry out a timed practice.

• Do not mug up any answers and look at what mistakes you are making

• Keep your stories and sentences short and to the point

• Make sure you analyze your responses

However, when it comes to preparation, no amount of training can be enough. There will always be scope for improvement in an individual.

SRT Examples

He was going for a business interview by train and found his wallet to be missing. He……….

Coming to this kind of SRT:
Since he has come to the conclusion that his wallet is lost, that means he has already searched all over and asked his fellow passengers as well, and it’s for sure lost, not misplaced.

So please don’t write it in your answer that he searched nearby places and asked fellow passengers.

It would help if you did not even write that he collected money from other passengers to commute further, because he has boarded a train and must have taken the ticket for that, so more money is not needed.

The main thing that you should write is about the articles that he has lost. Usually, our wallet has our ATM cards, Identity proofs, SIM cards may be, etc. they could be misused and is a more significant threat than a mere interview.

So your answer should have this which will be like:

He deboarded the train and lodged an FIR for his missing identity proof and other valuables

c) Word Association Test (WAT)

The common error committed by the SSB aspirants regarding WAT is that they take it as a sentence-making test.

They have to evaluate the qualities or ideas associated with the word.

For Example:
If the word is “strong”

You may write:
We have indigenously developed a strong vaccine for Covid- 19.

Every term given in the WAT is designed to invoke some thoughts in the aspirant. He/She may go beyond the word from different areas and fields.

How to Ace the WAT Psychology SSB? | Get Right Ideas

It’s pretty simple. Write the sentences related to your daily life or observations. How? Let’s see an example:

So above are few sentences for your reference.

Now the word “fear” can be of different things. For example, someone may fear exams, fear from darkness, and so on, but you should always try to make a sentence in a general form.

>> Get Ideas From Your PIQ Form

Sentences can be created by using the information provided by you in the PIQ form.

For example: You have written in your PIQ form that your hobby is cycling for long distances or Suppose you are good in academics.

So, if the words are:

STAMINA: Cycling is an energy-intensive sport.

PERSISTENT: Long-distance cycling requires constant effort.

GOOD: Good marks are the result of hard work.

And so on.

Similarly, use other contexts to make sentences from information given in your PIQ.

It provides a sense of originality in your ideas since the data presented in PIQ and sentences made in WAT matches.

Of course, your entire WAT cannot be based on the same context but, try to make as many words as possible with this technique because it will bring out your original personality.

Points To Be Remembered:

• Write a sentence that comes to your mind and later try to make it compact because you get only 15 seconds.

• There is always a positive aspect to negative things. It would help if you found that positive thing. Because as an officer, you need to be positive in many difficult situations

• You can take a small test at last when your SSB is significantly closer. And practice it with a watch. You can tell your friend or brother or sister to speak the words in 15-second intervals.

• Never stop in a word if you are not getting any ideas. Move on to the following term.

• It’s not sentence formation that we used to do in 6–7th std. It would help if you wrote whatever comes to your mind when you see a particular word.

• Since you get only 15 secs for every word, you cannot write a sentence with more than 4–6 words.

• The word may or may not be used in the sentence, and It’s okay if you use different forms of the same comment.

• DO NOT TRY TO FRAME POSITIVE SENTENCES. It’s not required that you write a positive response everywhere.

• Keep your response as natural and as spontaneous as possible.

• Practice always will give you an upper edge, so practice words given in books and take time to share your thoughts on each word.

• Don’t panic while practicing. If the ideas are your own, then you are going to remember them during the WAT.

• Don’t try to cram sentences already made in books

d) Self Description Test (SD)

The Self Description Test is a very effective and powerful tool in the hands of your assessor to verify the candidate’s personality traits, which the candidates record.

It gives an insight into the strength and weaknesses of the candidate.

Generally, the candidate will describe what his/her parents, friends, teachers, employer, etc., think about him/her, apart from his/her self evaluation. The self-description test is the last in the Psychologist test series at Service Selection Boards.

It may be the final test, but it is as necessary as the first one.

This test gives an idea to the Psychologist regarding how deep the candidate knows about him, whether he knows his Qualities and Shortcomings or not.

To write the self-description, you should know about yourself like your solid points and inferior qualities. Write about your nature, whether you are disciplined, intelligent, participate in sports and extracurricular activities.

For writing, SD takes the help of your parents and friends. Your SD should be genuine and should match your personality. Further, write about your plans and the steps you are taking to achieve them.

In this test, the candidate must write five paragraphs in 15 minutes on his Parents, Teacher/Employer, Classmates/Friends, the candidate’s own opinion about himself, and what qualities he would like to develop for the future.

How to Write Well in Self-Description Test in SSB

• Communicate with your parents, teachers, friends, and colleague. Ask for a positive and negative opinion about yourself.

• Your interview will be based on your Self-Description. The interviewing officer will read this before you enter the interview room.

• He/she will cross-check your Self-description by triggering various types of questions based on it. So be careful what you write in it.

• Avoid negative points like hypertension, drinking, smoking, temper, etc. instead, negative traits such as fewer participation skills, public-shy, introvert, weak communication skills, etc., are better examples of negative points.

• Be genuine and frank in giving your self-description. Never try to bluff about any of your qualities as the Psychologist will easily find it out.

• Never copy a Self-description from a book or the internet as you might fail to remember the same during the personal interview.

Tips on Self-Description test

• Listen to the instructions given by the Psychologist carefully. Emphasize your personality traits.

• Be strict on what you have written, don’t contradict your self-description during the personal interview.

• Mention your positive personality traits such as enthusiasm, hardworking, diligence.

• Talk briefly about where you grew up and your family.

• Mention any accomplishments in short sentences.

• Use appropriate language and grammar.

• Avoid sharing irrelevant negative points.

• On a personal opinion, I use points such as – I want to improve my physical stamina, general awareness, communication skills, performance in studies/sports/extra co-curricular, etc., and achieve my goal.

Examples for Self-description test

Generally, candidates are required to write a Self-description test based on

• What do you think of yourself?
• What do your parents feel about you?
• What do your friends think of you?
• What do your teachers think of you?
• What sort of a person do you want to become in life?

Best SSB Psychological Test Book

Conclusion

5 Days of Service Selection Board will test a candidate if he/she has an officer-like quality and should be recommended to serve in the armed forces or not.

A Psychologist plays a vital role in order to analyze a candidate’s potential to become an officer after training.

The above article gives you insights on the How to Prepare for Psychology test in SSB and the various tests are undertaken by the psychologist to test a candidate

A good amount of preparation and self-awareness is an important factor that could benefit you to show yourself as a worthy candidate in front of SSB Assessors

Other Articles You Should Read

• A PIQ Form is the most important written document after you reach SSB which is accessed by your assessing officers, here is a step by step guide to making the right impression with your PIQ Form

• Mental Stamina plays a major role to get recommended for an Armed Force Officer, Increase Your Mental Stamina to Avoid SSB Rejection

• Are You Medically Fit? Check How to Prepare for SSB Medical Test