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7. Each picture will stay on the screen for 30 seconds and you will get four minutes to write the
story.
8. You will see eleven pictures on the screen. For the twelth story, no picture will be projected on
the screen. You will find only a patch of light on the screen for 30 seconds during which you will
imagine a situation of your own choice. You will write a story around the person & situations imagined
by you.
Psychologist clarifies the conduct of test by projecting an example picture. It is not possible to
entertain any doubt or query after commencement of the test and hence it is advisable to clarify
everything before the test begins.
The conduct of TAT is summed up as following :—
Thematic Apperception Test : Summary
Number of pictures/situations 11 + 1 blank (imagined by candidate)
Duration of Exposure on the Screen 30 Seconds
Time for Writing Each Story– 04 Minutes
Space for Writing Stories 1/2 page
How To Do well In TAT ? Knowledge is power. The first and foremost requirement for doing
well in TAT is to know the nature of the test itself. Thematic Apperception Test is a directions less test.
It does not provide any direction to your thoughts. There is no objective reality in the contents of the
situation. You are free to imagine anything. Your stories reflect own personality qualities. You can
utilise the TAT to project your qualities by keeping a few things in your mind the following factors :—

1 2 3 4 5

Hero Task Resources Planning and Conclusion
organisation and
Hero—Hero is the central character of any story. You have to select one person as
the hero of the story. Hero is the most active and influential person of the stories. He
commands others, takes decisions, solves problems, supports and nourishes social norms,
fights evils and contributes most actively in achieving goals of his group, nation and
society. As a rule, you must select a person of your own age and sex as the Hero of your
stories. That means for a young male candidate a child; an old man and a female should
not be selected as hero. Women candidates by the same token; should not select a male
or any person beyond their own age group as heroes. Remember, you can project your
own qualities only through a person who is most similar to you. Hero in other words
represents you. Your qualities cannot be projected through a dissimilar person. A child
can represent his own level of knowledge, skills and physical strength by virtue of his
own age limitations. Consider you are a sportsman with adequate stamina to run fifteen
kilometres comfortably. How can a child logically represent this quality/achievement of
yours ? The sum and substance of the matter is—

There should not be a gap between you and the hero in terms of age, sex, strength, motivation and vision.

Lesson 15

What If Such A Person Is Not Available In The Picture ?
Remember what you saw (projected picture on the screen) is only one frame of an event. Many
aspects of the event are yet hidden and you have to reach them using your imagination. If you do not
find a person qualifying to be selected as hero, his presence in the event cannot be ruled out. In certain
pictures used at SSBs, there is no human figure at all, let alone a suitable person being present. Even in