TAT — Thematic Apperception Test
The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is the first test on Day 2 of the SSB, conducted by the psychologist. You are shown a series of pictures, briefly, and write a short story for each. The TAT is the most open-ended of the three written tests in the Psychology battery — it is where your imagination, goal-seeking behaviour and Officer Like Qualities show up most clearly.
This page is the hub for everything we have written on the TAT.
What the psychologist is reading for
A TAT story is not a creative-writing exercise. The psychologist reads each story for what your hero does — the actions, the goal-seeking, the resolution. A good story has the hero identify a problem and act on it, not philosophise or wait for rescue. For the deeper read on this, see Key to a good story in the TAT.
The thirty seconds before you write
You have roughly thirty seconds to observe the picture before the story. Use them to read three things — setting, characters, situation — and identify the hero. Pre-conceived stories that ignore the picture get caught instantly. See What to observe in a picture in TAT.
Structure: past, present, future
Every TAT story has three components: a brief past that led to the situation, a present full of the hero's actions, and a clear future that shows the goal achieved. The bulk of the story should be action in the present. See Structuring a TAT story.
How TAT relates to WAT and SRT
The TAT is open-ended; the WAT and SRT are constrained. You reveal your OLQs in all three — and consistency across them matters more than any single brilliant story. See Which test is more important in the Psych Test?.
Articles on the TAT
- Key to a good story in the TAT
- Structuring a TAT story
- What to observe in a picture in TAT
- Is handwriting important in the Psych Test?
Get your TAT read by a former assessor
The mock psych test includes a full set of TAT pictures, scored against the OLQs the Board looks for. Register — ₹2,250, written report and one-on-one counselling within a week.