UPSC Mains 2017 Psychology Optional Paper I questions

30 questions from the Civil Services (Main) Examination 2017. Official UPSC paper (PDF) · All Psychology Optional PYQs

1. Answer each the following questions in about 150 words

2. Describe how you used psychology to solve a social problem.

   10 marks

3. Distinguish between negative reinforcement and punishment. Do you think punishment is an effective way to modify behaviour?

   10 marks

4. In a study, the number of students intake in a college correlated very highly with violence. Explain the research finding.

   10 marks

5. Do you think subliminal messages can actually lead to significant changes in attitudes or behaviour? Cite research evidence.

   10 marks

6. Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour. Evaluate.

   10 marks

7. Why do we forget? Differentiate between anterograde and retrograde amnesia.

   20 marks

8. How can you use 'Focus Group Discussion' to promote use of toilets in rural areas?

9. How would you apply Operant Conditioning technique for toilet training to a 3-year-old boy?

10. Whatever we are, it is because of Genes. Discuss.

11. Which research design would you apply to prove that a particular method of teaching yields best results? Describe.

12. How are we able to perceive the world in three dimensions when our eyes are capable of sensing only two-dimensional images?

13. Evaluate "interview" as a method of data collection.

    20 marks

14. Explain the role of meaningfulness and emotional arousal in encoding. Discuss the implications of encoding specificity principle.

15. Explain the differences in information processing at various levels of memory. In what way is recall affected by initial processing of information?

16. Answer each of the following questions in about |50 words

17. Creative people usually have high IQ scores but those with highest IQ scores are not necessarily the most creative people. Explain.

    10 marks

18. Critically evaluate Noam Chomsky's theory of transformational grammar.

    10 marks

19. Drug-addiction is just a maladaptive behaviour. Like other behaviour, it can be easily changed. Discuss.

    10 marks

20. What is paradoxical in REM sleep? How active is a person during different stages of sleep?

21. Explain different types of reasoning processes used in problem solving with their strengths and limitations.

22. According to Gardner's theory, there is no one kind of general intelligence for ranking individuals. Explain.

    8 marks

23. A young person helped a visually impaired woman to cross the road. He explained his action saying that he has positive attitude towards such persons. Did his attitude determine his behaviour or the behaviour determine his attitude. Explain.

    20 marks

24. Explain the importance of Critical Periods in language development. In what ways are bilingualism and cognitive development related?

25. Which needs should one be high on to be a successful entrepreneur? Explain on the basis of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

    15 marks

26. Can we do justice to measuring personality by projective and objective tests? Discuss.

    20 marks

27. Why do some people behave aggressively towards those who defy social norms? How can such aggressive behaviours be changed?

28. Can we determine a person's academic performance based only on IQ score? Explain.

    20 marks

29. How do we explain self-defeating behaviour of a person from the Humanistic perspective?

30. People emphasize the personal traits more than the situational factors. Evaluate the statement.