Chapter Six-How To Master Word Association Test
This chapter will help you discover the deep psychology behind the Word Association Test. Learn how specific words are designed to reveal personality traits and gauge officer-like qualities.
Word Association Test-Understanding The Concept
The Word Association Test, commonly known as WAT, is one of the four tests which are conducted on the very first day of SSB as a part of the psychology tests. In Word Association Test, a total of 60 words are displayed on the screen at the interval of 15 seconds each and the candidate is required to write a sentence on that word within those 15 seconds. On every page there is space to write 20 sentences and that is the reason why after every 20 words there is a blank slide displayed for 15 seconds in order to give time to the candidates to turn the page.
In the second chapter where I have explained about how all the three main tests taken in Psychology are interlinked, I have also explained how Word Association Test is a mixed bag and has a balance of words belonging to all the four Factors.
In my experience of grooming candidates over the past 7 years, I have observed that most of the candidates appearing for SSB do not have any clue about why this test is taken, what is the science behind it and how they should approach it. Most of the candidates feel as if the words displayed during Word Association Test are just randomly picked up from the dictionary. The reality is quite the opposite! Each and every word which is displayed on the screen during Word Association Test is carefully chosen and is directly related to those qualities and personality traits which are extremely important and completely relevant to an officer’s role. As such, before we proceed further and get into analysis of sentences in reference to the words on which they have been written, it is important that we first understand the scientific aspect and concept of Word Association Test. Without a detailed understanding of the concept of Word Association Test, no amount of practice will ever help the candidate perform well in Word Association Test.
As mentioned earlier, the words displayed during Word Association Test happen to be extremely carefully chosen and are directly connected to at least one of the aspect of the candidate’s personality which relates to the role of an officer. Let us understand in a little detail what I mean by this. If you ask someone who has been till conference multiple times, whether he was asked questions regarding his family during the personal interview, the answer will always be a yes. A repeater who has been till conference multiple times will confirm that during each of his personal interviews there were questions asked about his family. No personal interview in any of the SSB, regardless of age and entry, can ever be complete without adequate discussion around family.
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The reason behind this is very simple: one of most important criteria for a candidate to be considered worthy of recommendation is that he should be from a good family. Here, by good family, we are not talking about rich or highly qualified parents or family members. A girl like Aanchal Gangwal, who is a daughter of a tea seller, has got commissioned into the Flying Branch of the Indian Air Force. There are numerous similar examples we see every year.
So what does it mean when we say good family? Very simple: good values and deep bonds within family. These two elements will be adequate to constitute a good family from the selection perspective and not whether the family is rich or highly education/qualified. We have already seen in the previous section how all the tasks and tests in the SSB are gauging the same qualities in the candidate. During the interview the Interviewing Officer will make an effort the gauge what kind of a family the candidate comes from by asking him relevant questions about family. Similarly, in Word Association Test too the family aspect of the candidate will be checked by displaying relevant words like Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Family, Home, Relatives. Each of these words relates to the family aspect of the candidate and a few words out of this group will be there in every Word Association Test conducted by our boards regardless of age and entry. Any candidate who has been till conference once or multiple times, will confirm with absolute certainty that in each of the Word Association Test he appeared for, a few words out of this group were displayed at different intervals during the test for sure. What the candidate will write in response to these words will help the board understand about the family aspect of the candidate’s life.
Now let us understand the second important concept about Word Association Test: grouping of words. The way words like Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Family, Home relate to one particular important aspect of family, there are other group of words which relate to other important aspect of the candidate which are relevant to an officer’s role and work. Let us discuss the example of other three such groups and why they are displayed during Word Association Test.
The way it is important for the board to understand about a candidate’s family background, the same way it is equally important to understand what is concept of an officer in the candidate’s mind. The reason behind this is very simple: it is believed that, if commissioned, the candidate will go on to become the type of officer which matches the concept of what an officer is in his mind.
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To check what the candidate’s thoughts are about what an officer is, words like Colonel, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, Officer, Commander, and Boss are displayed during the Word Association Test. What the candidate will write in response to these words will help the board understand what kind of an officer the candidate will go on to become.
Let me help you understand what I am saying in slight detail by taking the example of the word Colonel. A candidate may write ‘A Colonel is a strict person’ or ‘A Colonel is a strict disciplinarian’ whereas the second candidate may write something like ‘A Colonel is extremely helpful to subordinates’ or ‘A Colonel guides his men for betterment’. Let us understand how these sentences will be interpreted and what will be the conclusion drawn about the candidate based on those sentences.
From sentences like ‘A Colonel is a strict person’ or ‘A Colonel is a strict disciplinarian’, it will become very clear to the board that, if commissioned, then in the future the candidate will go on to become a very strict kind of an officer. If you think about it carefully, you will realize that most of the times, if not always, a person who is a strict disciplinarian has a reputation about himself which makes others fear him a lot. He might be a person who is very good at his work but then the downside of being a strict disciplinarian is that it makes others, specially subordinates, have fear and hesitation in their hearts when it comes to interacting with or approaching him for any work, whether official or otherwise. This has the potential to create a communication gap between him and his subordinates. Another outcome of having this kind of personality is that the bond between the Colonel and his men will be almost nonexistent.
Now let us see how the second candidate’s response will be interpreted. From sentences like ‘A Colonel is extremely helpful to subordinates’ or ‘A Colonel guides his men for betterment’ it will become very clear to the board that, if commissioned, then in the future the candidate will go on to become the kind of officer who is extremely helpful to his subordinates as well as any other members of his unit. He will be more like a father figure to them guiding them at every important step. The person will be having a reputation for being a very humble, simple, caring and helpful person. Due to this kind of a reputation and personality, nobody will ever have any fear or hesitation in approaching him for anything related to work or otherwise. This in turn will ensure that there is no communication gap between him and his subordinates. His subordinates will be at ease and extremely comfortable in approaching him whenever any need arises.
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This will not only ensure a smooth functioning of the unit but will also earn him lot of genuine respect in the hearts and minds of his subordinates. The other major beneficial positive impact of this will be that his unit members will always be feeling very positive working with him and will be willing to put in extra efforts happily for any task at hand so that their boss does not get to hear anything negative from his superiors.
Now we can understand why the second candidate will become more desirable and acceptable to the board as there is lot of desirable positive quality in him and there is no risk of being unapproachable or repulsive. One more thing we need to understand here is that it is not at all necessary to have a negative reputation in order to become a very effective people manager. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite. Those who are from defence background will instantly agree that the most efficient of officers in any arm are those who are the most humble, approachable, friendly and simple.
Now let us understand about another group of words and why it is displayed during Word Association Test. Lot of candidates appear for SSB out of fascination. They are attracted to our armed forces because of the kind of public image our armed forces have. To general public, mainly the element of a life full of adventure is what armed forces are all about. The candidates who come for SSB with this fascinated kind of mindset are mainly wanting that life of adventure and thrill. We all see lot of youngsters posting videos in their whatsapp status and on other social media platforms in which there are guns blazing and heroic songs playing in the background. This is the first sign of fascination. Since that is their main reason for attraction, most of them are not aware that our armed forces also have lot of work to do. There are lot of responsibilities and all the three arms are short of manpower. It is common in units to see one officer doing work of three or four officers due to shortage of officers. Same is the case with Other Ranks and JCOs. Now the main concern for the board is that if the candidate has come with a fascinated mind, he will be in for a rude shock when he will be given lot of work and the element of adventure and thrill may not be as much as he dreamt of. In this eventuality, the possibility that the candidate will get badly disappointed and might not give his 100% to work is very high. As such, the board will not feel comfortable and confident about recommending a candidate who has come with a fascinated mind.
The second category is the minority. It constitutes those who are mature, responsible and level headed individuals and appear for SSB, not out of fascination, but with the realization that life in our armed forces involves lot of work and has challenges of it’s own.
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This kind of an individual is aware that the work may not always be pleasant or enjoyable but he is still willing to undertake it out of his/her own sense of maturity and understanding of life. It is extremely important for the board to understand whether the candidate is a fascinated youngster wanting to join our armed forces out of some pink and green notion in mind or whether he/she is a very mature individual and knows the magnitude and depth of the responsibilities involved in working as an officer.
It is precisely to check whether the candidate is a fascinated person or a mature individual, words like Rifle, Gun, Tank, Bomb, Weapon, Missile are displayed during the test. Ask any candidate who has been to SSB on one or more occasions and he will confirm that each time he appeared for Word Association Test, there were a few words from this group at different intervals during the test. In order to understand about these words, with example, let us understand how the board will get to know whether the candidate is a fascinated person or a responsible and mature individual. Take the example of the word Rifle. A candidate, specially if he/she belongs to NCC or is already serving in the army as an OR/JCO, and has some sort of experience of handling firearms. Such a candidate may end up writing something like ‘Firing Rifle is thrilling’ or simply ‘Firing Rifle feels awesome’. Then there will be another candidate who, regardless of being in NCC/Army, may write something like ‘Rifle helps protect our country’ or ‘Rifle helps maintain peace and security’.
Let us see how these sentences will be interpreted. A candidate writing sentences like ‘Firing Rifle is thrilling’ or simply ‘Firing Rifle feels awesome’ will clearly prove to the board that he belongs to the fascinated category. The use of words like ‘thrilling’ and ‘awesome’ leaves absolutely no doubt about the person being fascinated. It also proves that the candidate has come to SSB with the future dream and desire that he will get to fire weapons and will have a good time doing it. The problem with this, however, is that if and when the candidate will be put in a situation where there will be lot of work and the opportunity to use firearms will not be as much as he would have liked, then the possibility that he/she will feel demotivated is very high as his/her primary reason of wanting to join army was not to handle responsibilities but was to enjoy adventures and thrills. Due to these reasons the candidate does not come across as highly desirable. The board would like to recommend someone who displays a responsible and mature character and gives board the faith that he will be completely comfortable with handling workload. A candidate who displays willingness to undertake responsibility and handle high volume of workload without any greed for experiencing the thrill of handling firearms will definitely be considered more desirable by the board.
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Compare this with the response of the second candidate. By writing sentences like ‘Rifle helps protect our country’ or ‘Rifle helps maintain peace and security’ the candidate has displayed the maturity and realization that a piece of weaponry like Rifle is mainly there for the purpose of providing security and ensuring peace and not for anyone’s personal enjoyment and thrill. Add to this the use of ‘our country’ in the first sentence and it becomes clear the candidate has a deep sense of bond with the motherland and is thinking about it’s good. The first thought that has come into the mind of the candidate, when the word Rifle was displayed, was about country’s protection. The thought of adventure/thrill/excitement was not the first thought that came to his mind. This again proves that he is a very mature individual and his thought process is in the right direction. It would be important to remember here that there is a huge shortage of officers in our armed forces and in many units one single officer is handling workload of 3-4 Officers. Due to this reasons also a candidate who displays willingness to undertake bigger responsibility will be considered more desirable compared to someone who wants to join just to enjoy the thrill of firing weapons.
I am sure it will be easy for you to now understand why the second candidate will be very desirable for the board and the first candidate will be considered undesirable.
Let us take one more example of a group of words which is an important part of Word Association Test. The fourth group we can take for study is of words like Fire, Flood, Accident, Earthquake, and Calamity. We will not go into the depth of these words as I am sure we have now adequately understood about how there is a concept of group of words which relate to one particular aspect of a candidate’s personality and how the candidate’s response helps the board understand whether the candidate is desirable or not. Just to help you understand briefly, all these words have one element in common and that is the element of life being at risk. In Fire life is at risk as it is also in case of Flood, Accident and Earthquake. These words belong to Factor 3 and hence what the candidate will write in response to these words will help board understand whether the candidate’s factor 3 is good or not.
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Now let us start with our main learning section. In this section, I have listed 40 words. For the purpose of our learning, I have very carefully chosen those words which prove to be very problematic for most of the candidates in terms of writing sentences. With every word, we will first try to understand why that particular word comes in Word Association Test and the quality that is being gauged through it. Then we will take a look at the sentences submitted by candidates in our class and we will analyse it in an in-depth manner to understand what will be the inference drawn about the candidate by the board based on that sentence. We will then see if that sentence could have been modified to better display candidate’s qualities. In the end we will see model sentences along with a detailed analysis of why those sentences will be helping the candidate in getting good result in the psychology tests.
In order to derive maximum benefit from the Word Association Test section, it is advisable that the candidate sit with a pen and paper in hand. Before reading the section related to a word, write a sentence on that word so that later while reading the analysis of that word, the candidate will be able to understand where he is going wrong and why he may have failed in his past attempts.
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