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12 previous year questions for Psychology from 3 years. Practice with year-wise breakdown.
12
Questions
3
Years
2
Papers
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) Why did behaviourists avoid the topics of thought and knowledge? Discuss. [10M]
(b) Highlight the major factors that influence the psychological well-being of youth in the Indian setting. [10M]
(c) Do attribution processes explain success and failure behaviour in social context? Answer this in the light of Weiner’s model of attribution. [10M]
(d) Critically evaluate the role of facial-affect programme and display rules in the expression of emotions by citing relevant examples. [10M]
(e) ‘IQ tests are too narrow in focus.’ Evaluate the statement from the perspectives of Sternberg and Gardner’s theories of intelligence. [10M]
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) What are the different methods of estimating internal consistency reliability? Explain their strengths and limitations. [10M]
(b) Evaluate the cognitive-behavioural model of depression. [10M]
(c) Explain spontaneous remission effect in the treatment of patients with mental illness. [10M]
(d) Managerial effectiveness is influenced by the reasoning and decision-making abilities of a manager. Critically evaluate with the help of researches. [10M]
(e) Critically evaluate the conditioning model of psychopathic personality disorder. [10M]
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) Do correlational studies contribute in understanding ‘cause and effect’ relationship in human behaviour? Discuss. [10M]
(b) Explain how psychological and cultural factors affect perception. [10M]
(c) Can amnesia patients recall emotional events? Explain your answer citing research evidence. [10M]
(d) Discuss how the narrative approach to personality hinges on answering the question, ‘Who am I?’. [10M]
(e) Is jet-lag a genuine phenomena? Explain it in the light of Circadian rhythms. [10M]
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) What are the cultural consequences of being disadvantaged and how can these be addressed? [10M]
(b) Write a note on distance learning through IT. [10M]
(c) Interactions between members of diverse groups can affect the ratings of in-group and out-group members. Discuss with the help of researches. [10M]
(d) Discuss the behavioural strategies for managing pollution. [10M]
(e) Critically evaluate the issues of gender discrimination in the Indian context. [10M]
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) What makes psychology a science? Discuss. [10M]
(b) Citing relevant examples, explain independent, dependent and mediating variables. [10M]
(c) Describe data collection methods in psychology with special reference to observation and survey methods. [10M]
(d) Differentiate between growth and development. Explain the principles of life span development in the context of developmental ecology. [10M]
(e) How do the principles of classical conditioning help in the formation of likes and preferences? Discuss. [10M]
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) Distinguish hallucinations and delusions with suitable examples. [10M]
(b) Evaluate the current status of career counselling in India. [10M]
(c) What is ergonomics? Explain the benefits of ergonomics in the work place with suitable examples. [10M]
(d) Write a note on transference versus countertransference in the context of psychodynamic therapies. [10M]
(e) Describe ‘revolving door phenomenon’ in the context of community based mental health services. [10M]
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) Citing research evidence, explain the components of working memory. [10M]
(b) What are the main differences between James-Lange and Cannon-Bard theories of emotion? Explain. [10M]
(c) Differentiate between intelligence and aptitude. Also, discuss the main features of a good intelligence test. [10M]
(d) Describe the biological and socio-cultural determinants of personality. Illustrate your answer with the help of Indian studies. [10M]
(e) Is cognitive dissonance effective in changing attitude? Discuss in the light of research evidence. [10M]
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) Explain multilevel marketing with the help of suitable examples. [10M]
(b) Describe the psychological approaches that can be utilised to motivate disadvantaged groups to move towards development. [10M]
(c) What is implicit prejudice? How does it differ from explicit prejudice? Explain with the help of examples. [10M]
(d) Discuss the impact of rapid technological growth on degradation of environment in Indian context. [10M]
(e) To what extent is the role of ideology critical for understanding terrorism? [10M]
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) How is descriptive type of research different from diagnostic research? Answer the question giving suitable example of each. [10M]
(b) “Mental health study is the major trend in Psychological studies in the 21st century.” Discuss. [10M]
(c) What do you mean by subliminal perception? Discuss its role in advertising with the help of suitable example. [10M]
(d) Your relative is going through chemotherapy. How your knowledge about learning theories will be helpful? [10M]
(e) Discuss the factors facilitating in problem-solving. [10M]
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) Compare directional and non-directional therapies with reference to their effectiveness. [10M]
(b) Give a comparative analysis of positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. [10M]
(c) Explain the nature and significance of biofeedback therapy. [10M]
(d) Explain the nature of dyslexia. How can it be diagnosed? [10M]
(e) “Appreciating diversity is considered as a core value for a community psychologist in India.” Justify. [10M]
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) Should the researcher always formulate a hypothesis before collecting data? Justify your answer with appropriate example. [10M]
(b) Discuss recent trends in the field of decision-making. [10M]
(c) How does gender differences account for behaviour? [10M]
(d) What hypothetical ideas lead to the development of projective personality tests? [10M]
(e) “Knowledge without use is useless.” Discuss the statement focussing on the application of psychology in resolving societal problems. [10M]
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) Explain with suitable examples the psychosocial consequences of prolonged deprivation. [10M]
(b) What are the measures to achieve social integration? [10M]
(c) Explain the role of mass media in fostering societal values. [10M]
(d) What psychological interventions can be planned to improve the performance of athletes? [10M]
(e) How does self-fulfilling prophecy work in case of traditional Indian women? [10M]
We have 12 UPSC Mains Psychology optional subject questions spanning 3 years (2023–2025).
Psychology has 2 papers in UPSC Mains: Psychology-I, Psychology-II. Each paper carries 250 marks.