Writing picture story is part of psychological tests at ISSB. In this, candidates are shown an picture on a screen fro 30 seconds. After the test is complete, candidates are shown more pictures (total 3 pictures in turn). The candidates have then to write a story based on the picture in 3.5 minutes. The story writing tests at ISSB are specifically designed to put candidates under pressure because of the time restraints and extract genuine responses. Technically Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is a projective psychological test. The candidates responses in this test tell about his motives, concerns, and the way he sees the social world.
What are to aspects tested in Picture Story Test at ISSB
Qualities/ Traits tested in Picture Story Test at ISSB are:
- Sense of observation, judgement and co-relation.
- Quick response and decision making.
- Self control, emotional balance, confidence and motivation (orientation).
- Problem identification and resolution capacity
- Pressure handling capacity
- Communication skills, maturity and self assurance
- Collaboration and its application in real time.
- Mental attitude and understanding of life
- Diversity and imagination
- Practice daily for few days, writing couple of stories every day keeping time.
- Use short sentence and simple language in your stories.
- Focus on 'activity', minimize use of insignificant word.
- Practice response in various situations i.e.
- Road incidents: accident, house on fire, robbery (bank / shop), purse snatching, fainted women etc.
- Office situations.
- Agriculture / village
- Initially focus on quality / theme / plot, subsequently build speed.
- Discuss your work with others.
- Notice aspects like ages, weather and terrain condition and other situational aspects in picture carefully and reflect these in your story.
- Think first and then write the story. Do not rush into writing.
- Remember you are writing a story and not describing a picture.
- Do not try to overlook / avoid negative things (like dead body when evident).
- The story must have a Hero
- Choose the age and profession of characters as evident from the picture.
- Avoid superficiality, don't create super hero.
- Keep a clean and calm while writing story.
- Keep the story simple and understandable
- Completion is important.
Hero/ Heroine :
- Should be a normal human being and not a superman or superwoman.
- Should be introduced i.e. name, profession, may be age and type of family (poor, rich, educated etc).
- He/ She should have an occupation or a purpose. e.g X was going to tuition (which shows X is a student).
- Don't self praise hero to start with and don't reward your hero/ heroine at the end.
Make sure your hero/ heroine is not too dominant and does everything on his/ her own. He/ She should take help from family, friends, other characters in the story, police, ambulance services etc.
Situation in the Story :
- What it is?
- How it came into being or what events led up to it?
- What will be/is the outcome or result?
It’s important to make use of correct resources in the story (visible or invisible). These may include, friends, family, police, ambulance, emergency services, general public, blood donor clubs, entertainment clubs etc.
Implement Action /Plan : Don’t describe plans, implement it. The hero/ heroine along with other characters should attempt to solve the problem with the resources available at their disposal.
Theme or Plot of the Story : The plot should be interesting and end successfully (as all stories do).
The Solution of the Problem :
- Solve the problem completely and practically.
- Remember, a problem cannot be solved at once.
- Several minor problems emerge while you solve the primary problem.
- It’s important for you to mention about the minor problems as well and how you tackle them to reach the climax.
