UGC NET Psychology 2024 Exam

Category

Age Relaxation (in years)

SC/ST/OBC/PwD/Transgender

5

Females of all categories

5

Candidates holding LLM degree

3

Candidates in armed forces

5

Paper-I Unit wise Subjects

Paper-I Topics Given

Unit-I: Teaching Aptitude

• Teaching: Concept, objectives, levels of teaching (memory, understanding & reflective), characteristics along with basic requirements
• Learner’s characteristics: Characteristics of adolescent & adult learners (academic, social, emotional & cognitive), individual differences
• Factors affecting teaching related to Teacher, Learner, Support material, Instructional facilities, Learning environment as well as Institution
• Methods of teaching in universities of higher learning: Teacher centered against. learner-centred methods; offline against online methods (Swayam, Swayamprabha, MOOCs, etc.).
• Teaching support system: Traditional, modern as well as ICT based
• Evaluation systems: Elements & types of evaluation, evaluation in Choice Based Credit System as in higher education, computer-based testing, innovations which take place in evaluation systems

Unit-II: In case of Research Aptitude

• Research: Meaning, Types, & characteristics, positivism as well as a post-positivist approach to research
• Methods of research: Experimental, descriptive, historical, qualitative and quantitative methods
• Steps for conducting a research
• Thesis & article writing: Format as well as styles of referencing
• Application of ICT in the research field
• Ethical research

Unit-III: Comprehension

• A passage of text shall be given. Questions shall be asked from the passage from where it is to be answered

Unit-IV: Communication

• Communication: Meaning, types & characteristics of communication
• Effective communication: Verbal & non-verbal, inter-cultural & group communications, classroom communication
• Barriers in case of effective communication
• Mass-media & society

Unit-V: Mathematical Reasoning & Aptitude

• Types of reasoning
• Number series, letter series, codes & relationships
• Mathematical aptitude (fraction, time and distance, ratio, proportion & percentage, profit & loss, interest & discounting, averages, etc.)

Unit-VI: Logical Reasoning

• Understanding the structure of arguments: Argument forms, the structure of categorical propositions, mood & figure, formal with informal fallacies, uses of language, connotations as well as denotations of terms, the classical square of opposition
• Evaluating & distinguishing deductive & inductive reasoning
• Analogies
• Venn diagram: Simple & multiple uses for establishing the validity of arguments
• Indian Logic: Means of knowledge
• Pramanas: Pratyaksha (Perception), Anumana (Inference), Upamana (Comparison), Shabda (Verbal testimony), Arthapatti (Implication) & Anupalabddhi (Non-apprehension)
• Structure with kinds of Anumana (inference), Vyapti (invariable relation), Hetvabhasa (fallacies of inference)

Unit-VII: Data Interpretation

• Sources, acquisition & classification of data
• Quantitative & qualitative data
• Graphical representation (bar-chart, histograms, pie-chart, table-chart & line-chart) along with mapping of the required data
• Data interpretation
• Data & governance

Unit-VIII: Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

• ICT: General abbreviations & terminology
• Basics of Internet, Intranet, E-mail, Audio & Video-conferencing
• Digital initiatives in terms of higher education
• ICT & Governance

Unit-IX: People, Development and Environment

• Development & environment: Millennium development with Sustainable development goals
• Human and environment interaction: Anthropogenic activities & their impacts on the environment
• Environmental issues: Local, regional & global; air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, noise pollution, waste (solid, liquid, biomedical, hazardous, electronic), climate change & its socio-economic and political dimensions
• Impacts of pollutants on human health
• Natural & energy resources: Solar, Wind, Soil, Hydro, Geothermal, Biomass, Nuclear & Forests
• Natural hazards & disasters: Mitigation strategies
• Environmental Protection Act (1986), National Action Plan on Climate Change, International agreements/efforts -Montreal Protocol, Rio Summit, Convention on Biodiversity, Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, International Solar Alliance

Unit-X: Higher Education System

• Institutions of higher learning & education in ancient India
• Evolution of higher learning & research in post-independence India
• Oriental, conventional & non-conventional learning programs in India
• Professional, technical along with skill-based education.
• Value education & environmental education
• Policies, governance, as well as administration

Subject

Syllabus

Psychology

Unit 1 - Emergence of Psychology

Psychological thought in some major Eastern Systems: Bhagavad Gita, Buddhism, Sufism and Integral Yoga. Academic psychology in India: Pre-independence era; post-independence era; 1970s: The move to addressing social issues; 1980s: Indigenization; 1990s: Paradigmatic concerns, disciplinary identity crisis; 2000s: Emergence of Indian psychology in academia. Issues: The colonial encounter; Postcolonialism and psychology; Lack of distinct disciplinary identity.

Western: Greek heritage, medieval period and modern period. Structuralism, Functionalism, Psychoanalytical, Gestalt, Behaviorism, HumanisticExistential, Transpersonal, Cognitive revolution, Multiculturalism. Four founding paths of academic psychology - Wundt, Freud, James, Dilthey. Issues: Crisis in psychology due to strict adherence to experimental analytical paradigm (logical empiricism). Indic influences on modern psychology.

Essential aspects of knowledge paradigms: Ontology, epistemology, and methodology. Paradigms of Western Psychology: Positivism, Post-Positivism, Critical perspective, Social Constructionism, Existential Phenomenology, and Co-operative Enquiry. Paradigmatic Controversies. Significant Indian paradigms on psychological knowledge: Yoga, Bhagavad Gita, Buddhism, Sufism, and Integral Yoga. Science and spirituality (avidya and vidya). The primacy of self-knowledge in Indian psychology.

Unit 2- Research Methodology and Statistics

Research: Meaning, Purpose, and Dimensions.

Research problems, Variables and Operational Definitions, Hypothesis, Sampling.

Ethics in conducting and reporting research

Paradigms of research: Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed methods approach Methods of research: Observation, Survey [Interview, Questionnaires], Experimental, Quasi-experimental, Field studies, Cross-Cultural Studies, Phenomenology, Grounded theory, Focus groups, Narratives, Case studies, Ethnography

Statistics in Psychology: Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion. Normal Probability Curve. Parametric [t-test] and Non-parametric tests [Sign Test, Wilcoxon Signed rank test, Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Friedman]. Power analysis. Effect size.

Correlational Analysis: Correlation [Product Moment, Rank Order], Partial correlation, multiple correlation.

Special Correlation Methods: Biserial, Point biserial, tetrachoric, phi coefficient.

Regression: Simple linear regression, Multiple regression.

Factor analysis: Assumptions, Methods, Rotation and Interpretation.

Experimental Designs: ANOVA [One-way, Factorial], Randomized Block Designs, Repeated Measures Design, Latin Square, Cohort studies, Time series, MANOVA, ANCOVA. Single-subject designs.

Unit 3- Psychological Testing

Types of tests

Test construction: Item writing, item analysis

Test standardization: Reliability, validity and Norms

Areas of testing: Intelligence, creativity, neuropsychological tests, aptitude, Personality assessment, interest inventories

Attitude scales – Semantic differential, Staples, Likert scale. Computer-based psychological testing

Applications of psychological testing in various settings: Clinical, Organizational and business, Education, Counseling, Military. Career guidance.

Unit 4- Biological Basis of Behavior

Sensory systems: General and specific sensations, receptors and processes

Neurons: Structure, functions, types, neural impulse, synaptic transmission. Neurotransmitters. The Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems – Structure and functions. Neuroplasticity.

Methods of Physiological Psychology: Invasive methods – Anatomical methods, degeneration techniques, lesion techniques, chemical methods, microelectrode studies. Non-invasive methods – EEG, Scanning methods

Muscular and Glandular system: Types and functions

Biological basis of Motivation: Hunger, Thirst, Sleep and Sex

Biological basis of emotion: The Limbic system, Hormonal regulation of behavior

Genetics and behavior: Chromosomal anomalies; Nature-Nurture controversy [Twin studies and adoption studies]

Unit 5- Attention, Perception, Learning, Memory and Forgetting

Attention: Forms of attention, Models of attention

Perception:

Approaches to the Study of Perception: Gestalt and physiological approaches

Perceptual Organization: Gestalt, Figure and Ground, Law of Organization

Perceptual Constancy: Size, Shape, and Color; Illusions

Perception of Form, Depth and Movement

Role of motivation and learning in perception

Signal detection theory: Assumptions and applications

Subliminal perception and related factors, information processing approach to perception, culture and perception, perceptual styles, Pattern recognition, Ecological perspective on perception.

Learning Process:

Fundamental theories: Thorndike, Guthrie, Hull

Classical Conditioning: Procedure, phenomena and related issues

Instrumental learning: Phenomena, Paradigms and theoretical issues; Reinforcement: Basic variables and schedules; Behaviour modification and its applications

Cognitive approaches in learning: Latent learning, observational learning. Verbal learning and Discrimination learning

Recent trends in learning: Neurophysiology of learning

Memory and Forgetting

Memory processes: Encoding, Storage, Retrieval

Stages of memory: Sensory memory, Short-term memory (Working memory), Long-term Memory (Declarative – Episodic and Semantic; Procedural)

Theories of Forgetting: Interference, Retrieval Failure, Decay, Motivated forgetting

Unit 6- Thinking, Intelligence and Creativity

Theoretical perspectives on thought processes: Associationism, Gestalt, Information processing, Feature integration model

Concept formation: Rules, Types, and Strategies; Role of concepts in thinking

Types of Reasoning

Language and thought

Problem solving: Type, Strategies, and Obstacles

Decision-making: Types and models

Metacognition: Metacognitive knowledge and Metacognitive regulation

Intelligence: Spearman; Thurstone; Jensen; Cattell; Gardner; Stenberg; Goleman; Das, Kar & Parrila

Creativity: Torrance, Getzels & Jackson, Guilford, Wallach & Kogan Relationship between Intelligence and Creativity

Unit 7- Personality, Motivation, Emotion, Stress and Coping

Determinants of personality: Biological and socio-cultural

Approaches to the study of personality: Psychoanalytical, Neo-Freudian, Social learning, Trait and Type, Cognitive, Humanistic, Existential, Transpersonal psychology

Other theories: Rotter's Locus of Control, Seligman's Explanatory styles, Kohlberg’s theory of Moral development

Basic motivational concepts: Instincts, Needs, Drives, Arousal, Incentives, Motivational Cycle. Approaches to the study of motivation: Psychoanalytical, Ethological, S-R Cognitive, Humanistic

Exploratory behavior and curiosity

Zuckerman's Sensation seeking

Achievement, Affiliation and Power

Motivational Competence

Self-regulation

Flow

Emotions: Physiological correlates

Theories of emotions: James-Lange, Canon-Bard, Schachter and Singer, Lazarus, Lindsley

Emotion regulation

Conflicts: Sources and types

Stress and Coping: Concept, Models, Type A, B, C, D behaviors, Stress management strategies [Biofeedback, Music therapy, Breathing exercises, Progressive Muscular Relaxation, Guided Imagery, Mindfulness, Meditation, Yogasana, Stress Inoculation Training]

Unit 8- Social Psychology

Nature, scope and history of social psychology

Traditional theoretical perspectives: Field theory, Cognitive Dissonance, Sociobiology, Psychodynamic Approaches, Social Cognition

Social perception [Communication, Attributions]; attitude and its change within cultural context; prosocial behavior

Group and Social influence [Social Facilitation; Social loafing]; Social influence [Conformity, Peer Pressure, Persuasion, Compliance, Obedience, Social Power, Reactance]. Aggression. Group dynamics, leadership style and effectiveness. Theories of intergroup relations [Minimal Group Experiment and Social Identity Theory, Relative Deprivation Theory, Realistic Conflict Theory, Balance Theories, Equity Theory, Social Exchange Theory]

Applied social psychology: Health, Environment and Law; Personal space, crowding, and territoriality.

Unit 9- Human Development and Interventions

Developmental processes: Nature, Principles, Factors in development, Stages of Development. Successful aging

Theories of development: Psychoanalytical, Behavioristic, and Cognitive Various aspects of development: Sensory-motor, cognitive, language, emotional, social and moral.

Psychopathology: Concept, Mental Status Examination, Classification, Causes

Psychotherapies: Psychoanalysis, Person-centered, Gestalt, Existential, Acceptance Commitment Therapy, Behavior therapy, REBT, CBT, MBCT, Play therapy, Positive psychotherapy, Transactional Analysis, Dialectic behavior therapy, Art therapy, Performing Art Therapy, Family therapy.

Applications of theories of motivation and learning in School

Factors in educational achievement

Teacher effectiveness

Guidance in schools: Needs, organizational set up and techniques

Counselling: Process, skills, and techniques

Unit 10- Emerging Areas

Issues of Gender, Poverty, Disability, and Migration: Cultural bias and discrimination. Stigma, Marginalization, and Social Suffering; Child Abuse and Domestic violence

Peace psychology: Violence, non-violence, conflict resolution at macro level, role of media in conflict resolution

Wellbeing and self-growth: Types of wellbeing [Hedonic and Eudemonic], Character strengths, Resilience and Post-Traumatic Growth

Health: Health promoting and health compromising behaviors, Lifestyle and Chronic diseases [Diabetes, Hypertension, Coronary Heart Disease], Psychoneuroimmunology [Cancer, HIV/AIDS]

Psychology and technology interface: Digital learning; Digital etiquette: Cyber bullying; Cyber pornography: Consumption, implications; Parental mediation of Digital Usage.

Sections

Number of questions

Maximum marks

Teaching Aptitude

5

10

Research Aptitude

5

10

Reading Comprehension

5

10

Communication

5

10

Reasoning (including Maths)

5

10

Logical Reasoning

5

10

Data Interpretation

5

10

Information & Communication Technology (ICT)

5

10

People & Environment

5

10

Higher Education System: Governance, Polity & Administration

5

10

Total

50

100

Exam Pattern 2022

Psychology Marks Weightage 

66.6%

No. of questions asked

100

Marks for each answer

2

Total Marks 

200

Paper Type

Subject specific

Negative marking

No