UPSC MAINS OPTIONAL QUESTION PAPER: PSYCHOLOGY 2013

Psychology Paper 1: Section A

Question 1: Answer the following, each in not more than 150 words. 10×5=50 marks

1. Critically evaluate the cognitive approach to the study of psychological phenomena.
2. What is ethnocentrism? Bow is it reflected in psychological research?
3. What factors contribute to the encoding of information into LTM?
4. How flow of genes affect development?
5. Describe different reinforcement schedules and indicate their effects on the strength of learning.

Question 2: Answer each in not more than 250 words :15+20+15

1. What do you understand by ‘effect size’ and ‘statistical power’? Explain their significance.
2. Discuss the importance of early relationship l’or developmental outcomes in the light of researches by Bowlby and Anisworth.
3. Compare template matching and feature detection accounts of pattern recognition.

Question 3: Answer the following, each in not more than 400 words. 25+25

1. The discipline of psychology has grown and developed through debate between those who held that it should be modelled on natural science and those who subscribed to the view that it has to follow the model of social science. What arguments you envision for or against these views? What position you would like to endorse and why?
2. Bring out the key developmental challenges faced by adolescents in the cognitive and social domains.

Question 4: Answer the following, each in not more than 250 words: 15+20+15

1. Why our representations of the external world are not entirely accurate?
2. Describe and evaluate the modal model of short-term memory.
3. Describe the basic elements of observation and bring out the implications of the dimension of participation in observational research.

Psychology Paper I: Section B

Question 5: Answer each in 150 words. 10 x 5 =50

1. What is the situational critique of trait psychology?
2. Explain Sternberg’s view of intelligence and bring out its implication for schooling.
3. Every function in the child’s development appears twice : first on social level and later. on the individual level.” Vygotsky. Discuss the above statement and indicate your own position on this proposition.
4. What are the process of language production?
5. How do novices differ from experts?

Question 6: Answer the following, each in not more than 250 words :15+20+15

1. Bring out the role of left and right hemispheres in emotional experience.
2. What is intrinsic motivation? Why it gets reduced if the person gets external rewind for undertaking a task that he or she loves?
3. Explain correspondents’ bias. Is it universal or culturally variable?

Question 7: Answer the following each in more than 400 words :25+25

1. What is the role of social categorization in the formation of prejudice? Suggest some strategies to reduce prejudice.
2. How the psychoanalytic view differs from physiological or cognitive view of dream?

Question 8: Answer the following. each in not more than 250 words: 15+20+15

1. What are the requirements to be met by psychological assessment tools for offering accurate and useful measure of psychological constructs?
2. What makes a persuasive attempt effective? Discuss.
3. Describe the Indian approach to personality as reflected in the principle of three Gunas.

Psychology Paper 2 Section A

Question 1: Answer the following questions in about 150 words each. 10 x 5 =50m

1. How will you ensure that a newly constructed personnel selection test measures that it purports to measure and predicts what it intends to predict? Explain.
2. Reflect on the major issues and contradictions related to the understanding of well-being. Discuss with reference to current social trends.
3. How would you identify gifted children? Explain with examples.
4. Discuss the steps that can be taken to improve the quality of group decision-making.
5. India rates very high on carbon emission. What use can be made of psychological knowledge to reduce the level of carbon emission in India?

Question 2: Answer the following questions in about 200 words each: 15+15+20

1. What is your understanding of organizational politics? Discuss how it impacts decision-making processes in bureaucratic organizations.
2. Discuss the psychological implications of the ‘glass ceiling’ effect from the perspective of an administrator.
3. Reflecting on the status of education in India, state whether it can help in reducing the gap which has been experienced due to social inequality.

Question 3: Answer the following questions in about 200 words each.15+20+15

1. Discuss the relative efficacy of psycho-social and community-based rehabilitation models in case of the physically challenged.
2. Identify relevant indices for understanding the emergence of ingroup and outgroup processes. Discuss with the help of a suitable theoretical framework.
3. Discuss the key determinants of consumer behaviour in India. How do cultural values influence it?

Question 4: Answer the following questions in about 200 words each. 15+20+15

1. What psychological approach/approaches can be used to persuade those who oppose family planning on religious grounds?
2. Identify the factors in arousal of community consciousness and also the
3. strategies for handling social problems keeping in view some of the recent protest movements in India.
4. What are the necessary conditions required in client-centred therapy? Discuss the therapeutic process involved in it.

Psychology Paper II Section B

Question 5: Answer the following questions in about 150 words each. 10 x 5 =50

1. Discuss how the psychological training given to sports persons can be useful for administrators with reference to maintaining team spirit and group morale.
2. How can psychological resilience of the personnel of the armed forces be enhanced? Discuss.
3. Discuss how cognitive and motivational factors influence entrepreneurial behaviour.
4. How can psychological principles be used to conserve water? Develop a plan.
5. Define ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’. Can it affect the students’ performance belonging to special categories?

Question 6: Answer the following questions in about 200 words each: 20+15+15

1. Discuss the relative significance of group factors versus personality factors in explaining the behaviour of terrorists.
2. Identify the ethical and non-ethical uses of psychological tests especially measuring individual differences. Provide suitable examples.
3. What bases of power are used by successful leaders to exercise influence within organizations? Discuss.

Question 7: Answer the following questions in about 200 words each: 15 + 20+15

1. What lessons can be drawn from psychological research to promote gender equality in the workplace?
2. What explanations are offered by psychological theories about the manner in which media influences antisocial behavior?
3. Discuss the influences of information technology in modifying the career perspectives of young adults with special reference to the values of life.

Question 8: Answer the following questions in about 200 words each: 20+15+15

1. Reflect on the possibility of fostering positive mental health through indigenous therapies along with cultural practices.
2. Is religion in India at the root of social conflicts? Discuss and provide suitable ways to deal with such conflicts.
3. “Poverty alleviation is a dream spread with ulterior motives.” Do you agree? Justify your views.