Psychology-
Optional
Part A - Preliminary Examination
1. Introduction to psychology :
Concept and definition of psychology. Nature and Scope.
Branches of psychology. Application of psychology to society and social
problems.
2. Methods in Psychology :
Characteristics of psychological studies, Observation. Survey
method, Clinical and case study method. Experimental method. Application of the
method.
3. Quantitative Analysis :
Measures of central tendency and dispersion. Correlation.
Levels of measurement. Reliability and validity. Application in test
construction.
4. Physiological Psychology :
Structure of neuron, nerve impulses, synapse and
neurotransmitters. Central and peripheral nervous system-structure and neural
control of behaviour. Hemispheric specialization. Endocrine system and hormonal
control of behaviour. Application of hemispheric knowledge to diagnostic
purposes.
5. Development of human behaviour :
Individual Differences : Heredity and environment. Life span
development. Role of early experience and mastering of developmental tasks.
Sensitive or critical periods of development in human life cycle and its
application.
6. Perception :
Perceptual processes. Perceptual
organization. Perception of
form, colour, depth and time. Perceptual readiness and constancy. Role of
motivation, social and cultural factors in perception. Application of knowledge
of perception to skill development (e.g. for certain jobs like that of driving,
airline pilots etc.)
7. Learning :
Classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Modeling and
observational learning. Transfer of training. Learning and motivation.
Application of the above to the improvement of academic performance in
education.
8. Memory :
Physiological basis of memory. Memory and forgetting.
Measurement of memory (Recall, Recognition, Relearning). Short term and long
term memory. Theories of forgetting (Decay and Interference theories and
Repressive forgetting). Application of Mnemonic devices etc, to improving
memory.
9. Cognition and Language :
Concept of formation. Nature and development of thinking.
Language and thought and acquisition of language. Problem solving. Creative
thinking and its applications.
10. Intelligence and Aptitude :
Definition and concept. Theories and models of Intelligence.
Measurement of intelligence and aptitude. Exceptional intelligence. Mental
retardation. Concepts of multiple, emotional and artificial intelligence and
their application.
11. Motivation and Emotion :
Definition and concept of instinct, needs, drives and
motives. Theories of motivation and their application (drive reduction theory,
Maslow's motivational hierarchy). Social motivation: Achievement, power,
affiliation motives and influence of early experiences. Physiological basis of
emotion. Theories of emotion (James-Lange and Cannon-Brad theories, cognitive
physiological theory).
12. Personality :
Concepts and Definition of personality.
Study of personality
(Trait, type and eclectic approaches) Development of personality (Freud,
Erickson,
Biological and socio-cultural determinants). Measurement of Personality
(Projective tests, pencil-paper tests). Application of personality profiles in
fitting a person to a job.
13. Adjustment and Stress :
Concept and definition. Factors affecting adjustment
(frustration and conflict). Sources of stress and reactions to stress. Coping
with stress. Application of stress management techniques.
14. Social Behaviour :
Socio-cultural factors and behaviour. Development of
attitudes, stereotypes and prejudice, Measurement of Attitudes (Thurstone,
Likert attitude scale and Bogardus Social Distance scale). Strategies for
reducing prejudice and changing attitude. Person perception, implicit personality
theory and integrating impressions. Application of person perception to
impression management.
15. Application of Psychology :
Health and mental health (yoga, meditation and relaxation
therapies). Education (Programmed learning,. self instructional learning and
learning styles). Community (self help through group cohesiveness and
leadership). Industry (Assessment centre approach in selection, recruitment and
training). Environment (man-nature interaction, personal space concept,
pollution reduction) Information technology (Application to commercial,
educational and health areas).
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