How to perform well in Situation Reaction Test (SRT)

Situation Reaction Test or SRT is the 3rd test in Psychological Test Battery. Like many other tests, this test aims to determine quick and accurate decision making by the candidate.

Note

Please note that whatever answers we have mentioned for some situations taken as an example are for explanation only. Those answers are not necessarily correct or complete we have mentioned the answers to draw the attention of the candidates to that particular point.

Overview

In this test you will be given various real-life situations, you will find that you already faced many situations in your real life. You have to record your responses to the situations in the answer-sheet provided to you. If you want to know complete detail about the procedure of SRT then Click Here.

Here is a sample situation

While playing the final match of Inter-College Hockey Tournament He was Injured. He Will……..

Now in Place of ……. you are required to write what he will do. Here “He” is nothing but the candidates who are taking the test.

Pattern

There will be 60 Situations and 30 Minutes will be given to you to respond to these 60 situations and record your answer in the booklet provided to you. You have to record your answer in the booklet provided to you, not in the booklet containing the situations.

It is important to note that there is no right or wrong answer to any of these situations. There is a course of action to be followed. So don’t waste your time in finding the correct answer just write what comes naturally to your mind.

Here are important instructions that you should keep in mind while doing SRT.

1. Don’t write anything on the test booklet, record your responses in answer-sheet provided to you.
2. Listen to the instructions very carefully given by the person conducting the test.
3. While Answering do not mention He will….. as this is part of the question just write your response after He Will. This will save your time.
4. Most Important thing in SRT is to use such words or symbols that takes very little time to convey your message. Time is an important factor in this test you can use, (Comma). (Full stop) and various punctuation marks to shorten your answer. Let us consider the situation mentioned above in response to the above situation some might write he went out of the hockey field and then kept ice pack over his injury and then sprayed magic spray to alleviate pain. Instead of writing all these lines you can mention that He took first aid and played again. You can use the following words. Hospitalized, Gave first aid, Challenged, Convinced, Rehabilitated, Overpowered, compromised, took a part-time job.
5. If in any situation you have a lot of option to solve then write the best one. For example, lets take a situation He is good in studies but can’t pay his college fee. He will Now in this situation many candidates will write somehow managed, friend, don’t do this mistake this test is to know what that somehow is. It is better to mention that he took part-time job or He gave Tuition classes.
6. Always give the complete answer. For example, He was going to college. He saw an injured person. He will…. Now here almost each and every candidate will write hospitalized the injured person. But what his initial destination or goal was (read the first line of this situation) to reach his college so don’t forget to mention that he hospitalized the injured, informed his family and went to his college. You should never forget the basic aim in the situation.
7. Don’t give Superman or Superhero kind of responses. Write your responses considering yourself as a normal human being even if you are not!.
8. Although all situation will be simple if by any reason you can’t find a response to a particular situation then move on to the next, Don’t waste too much time for a particular situation.
9. Writing speed matters a lot in all Psychological tests. So, keeping that in mind you should practice writing fast and legibly it will help you in other tests also not just SRT.
10. Do not make the situation such that it can’t be handled. You are there to solve the situation and not to make it more complex. For example, While riding a bicycle he was hit from behind by a speedy car. He will… Now after reading this situation most of you would assume your self-injured or on the ground but were in the situation mentioned that. Of course, you will lose your balance or might get few scratches. The Speedy car can be 40 Km/hr or 100 Km/hr why are you considering the car at 100 it can be 40. Here no need to mention that hospitalized or took first aid because no injury is mentioned in the situation so why to consider your self.
11. Don’t leave any underlying problem. For example,  While riding a scooter with a pillion rider he met with an accident that resulted in serious injury to the pillion rider and damage to the scooter. In your response, of course, you will mention that gave first aid to the injured and hospitalized but as it is in the situation that the vehicle was damaged so also mention that got the vehicle repaired later. Some of you may want to answer in the following manner. He locked the scooter and asked someone nearby to keep a check on it and took a lift from a vehicle and reached hospital and blah blah blah. In this way, you will run out of time. Your response started by the scooter this shows you are more worried about the scooter and not the injured, will it be a disaster if the scooter is stolen? Of course No, You will for sure lock the scooter and park it somewhere but no need to mention that. There is no need to mention the means of transport that you will take to hospitalize the injured there could be thousand ways, may be you met with the accident just in front of a hospital so just mention hospitalized the inured. Also if you are a good mechanic then you might say that repaired the vehicle and hospitalized the injured but it is important to note that time for a injured person is very important. You have to take a course of action base on logic.
12. Once the instructor orders you to stop writing then drop your pen then and there. Doing so is more important than writing one or two more answers because if he makes a note about your conduct and informs the Board then it will be detrimental for you.

How to practice SRT?

For practicing SRT you can go to SRT section on our website. There we have provided sample tests with same time limit and instructions that you will get in SSB Interview. All the things mentioned on this page can not be imparted in one day you have to change your way of thinking and decision making. Whenever you are required to take a decision in your daily life just take a pause and ask your self what is the best way to do that task.

With a hope that you enjoyed reading this article We would like to know your thoughts or suggestion in the comment box below.