Union Public Service Commission
SYLLABI FOR THE EXAMINATION
PART-B
MAIN EXAMINATION
PSYCHOLOGY
PAPER - I
Foundations of Psychology
1. Introduction: Definition of Psychology; Historical antecedents of
Psychology and trends in the 21st century; Psychology and scientific methods;
Psychology in relation to other social sciences and natural sciences;
Application of Psychology to societal problems.
2. Methods of Psychology: Types of research: Descriptive,
evaluative, diagnostic and prognostic; Methods of Research: Survey, observation,
case-study and experiments; Characteristics of experimental design and non-
xperimental design, Quasi-experimental designs; Focussed group discussions,
brain storming, grounded theory approach.
3. Research Methods: Major steps in Psychological research
(problem statement, hypothesis formulation, research designs, sampling, tools of
data collection, analysis and interpretation and report writing) Fundamental
versus applied research; Methods of data collection (interview, observation,
questionnaire); Research designs (ex-post facto and experimental); Application
of statistical technique (t - test, two way ANOVA correlation, regression and
factor analysis); Item response theory.
4. Development of Human Behaviour: Growth and development;
Principles of development, Role of genetic and environmental factors in
determining human behaviour; Influence of cultural factors in socialization;
Life span development - Characteristics, development tasks, promoting
psychological well-being across major stages of the life span.
5. Sensation, Attention and Perception: Sensation: concepts
of threshold, absolute and difference thresholds, signal-detection and
vigilance; Factors influencing attention including set and characteristics of
stimulus; Definition and concept of perception, biological factors in
perception; Perceptual organization-influence of past experiences, perceptual
defence-factors influencing space and depth perception, size Z estimation and
perceptual readiness; The plasticity of perception; Extrasensory perception;
Culture and perception, Subliminal perception.
6. Learning: Concept and theories of learning (Behaviourists,
Gestaltalist and Information processing models); The Processes of extinction,
discrimination and generalization; Programmed learning, probability learning,
self- nstructional learning, concepts; Types and the schedules of reinforcement,
escape, avoidance and punishment, modeling and social learning.
7. Memory: Encoding and remembering; Short term memory, Long
term memory, Sensory memory, Iconic memory, Echoic memory: The Multistore model,
levels of processing; Organization and Mnemonic techniques to improve memory;
Theories of forgetting: decay, interference and retrieval failure: Metamemory;
Amnesia: Anterograde and retrograde.
8. Stupid Thinking and Problem Solving: Piaget’s theory of
cognitive development; Concept formation processes; Information processing,
Reasoning and problem solving, Facilitating and hindering factors in problem
solving, Methods of problem solving: Creative thinking and fostering creativity;
Factors influencing decision making and judgment; Recent trends.
9. Motivation and Emotional Pervert: Psychological and
physiological basis of motivation and emotion; Measurement of motivation and
emotion; Effects of motivation and emotion on behaviour; Extrinsic and intrinsic
motivation; Factors influencing intrinsic motivation; Emotional competence and
the related issues.
10. Intelligence and Aptitude: Concept of intelligence and
aptitude, Nature and theories of intelligence - Spearman, Thurstone, Gullford
Vernon, Sternberg and J.P; Das; Emotional Intelligence, Social intelligence,
measurement of intelligence and aptitudes, concept of IQ, deviation IQ,
constancy of IQ; Measurement of multiple intelligence; Fluid intelligence and
crystallized intelligence.
11. Personality: Definition and concept of personality;
Theories of personality (psychoanalytical, sociocultural, interpersonal,
developmental, humanistic, behaviouristic, trait and type approaches);
Measurement of personality (projective tests, pencil-paper test); The Indian
approach to personality; Training for personality development; Latest approaches
like big 5 factor theory; The notion of self in different traditions.
12. Attitudes, Values and Interests: Definition of attitudes,
values and interests; Components of attitudes; Formation and maintenance of
attitudes; Measurement of attitudes, values and interests; Theories of attitude
change; Strategies for fostering values; Formation of stereotypes and
prejudices; Changing others behaviour; Theories of attribution; Recent trends.
13. Language and Communication: Human language - Properties,
structure and linguistic hierarchy, Language acquisition- predisposition,
critical period hypothesis; Theories of language development - Skinner and
Chomsky; Process and types of communication - effective communication training.
14. Issues and Perspectives in Modern Contemporary
Psychology: Computer application in the psychological laboratory and
psychological testing; Artificial intelligence; Psychocybernetics; Study of
consciousness-sleep- ake schedules; dreams, stimulus deprivation, meditation,
hypnotic/drug induced states; Extrasensory perception; Intersensory perception
Simulation studies.
