Page 46 - Failure to Triumph - Journey of A Student

My Target Service Selection Board (SSB)

Dos and Don'ts of Word Association Test

WAT Word Association Test is a critical exercise. It lets the psychologist analyze by just a few
sentences! Hence you must know how crucial it is to give the correct responses in this test. So here
is a guide on some dos and don'ts of this test.

Dos and Don'ts of WAT

1. Do write your natural response.
2. Don't mug up sentences on certain words, and write responses then and there.
3. Do write your good thinking, or your positive thinking.
4. Don't write simple observations. E.g. - Sleep-A dog is sleeping. (Wrong response). Sleep
refreshes us (Correct Response).
5. Write the effect of the word. E.g.: War- War causes destruction.
6. Don't write idioms, phrases, quotations, universal truths. They show lack of original thoughts.
7. Write a meaningful sentence.
8. Don't give negative response or any word, try remaining positive as much as you can. If a
negative word comes try to write something positive for that as well.
9. Write sentences from human point of view.
10. Don’t use the word “I or Me” much.
11. Don’t write the word in the answer sheet.
12. Maintain as far as possible a good hand-writing.
13. Attempt at least 45-50 words.

WAT Word Association Test is meant to put you under pressure and squeeze the real you out of
you! You need practice to do well in WAT. Several PPT’s and words are present online and also on
SSBCrack you can take them and write your responses keeping the given points in mind.

How to tackle a Negative Word in WAT

When your reaction to a negative word is positive, it will be easy for you to make a sentence from the
word. The tip is to form a positive idea from a negative word shown in the slide.
For example- Defeat: - Now when we hear defeat, an image of failure comes to our mind. It is natural
but a little practice will help you to change the image out of your mind.

1. Sentence- A brave man defeats his weakness.
2. Danger- Indian defence is always ready for dangers
3. Weapon- weapon is used for protection.
4. Hijack- commandos are trained for
5. Difficult-difficulties are solved by patience.
6. Fear- winners bravely face his fear.
7. Aggressive- A leader patiently deals with his team.

Do not use readymade sentence. This will break the pattern of loop created by psychologist.

Practice writing negative words, it will help you in

changing the image of those words in your mind.