UGC NET Psychology Syllabus in Detail

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, Humanistic Existential, 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.

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. 
• 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 
• Computer-based psychological testing 

Unit 4: Biological Basis of Behavior

• Sensory Systems: General and specific sensations, receptors and processes 
• 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, Emotion, Genetics and Behaviour: Hunger, Thirst, Sleep and Sex, The Limbic system, Hormonal regulation of behaviour, 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
• 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 
• Memory and Forgetting Memory processes: Encoding, Storage, Retrieval 

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, and 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 Behaviour 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 behaviours, 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 the cultural context, prosocial behaviour 
• Group and Social Influence: [Social Facilitation, Social loafing], Social influence [Conformity, Peer Pressure, Persuasion, Compliance, Obedience, Social Power, Reactance], Aggression
• 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
• 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 behaviour therapy, Art therapy, Performing Art Therapy, Family therapy
• Applications of Theories of Motivation and Learning in School: Factors in Educational Achievement Teacher Effectiveness 
• Counselling: Process, Skills, and Techniques 

Unit 10: Emerging Areas

• Issues of Gender, Poverty, Disability, and Migration: Cultural bias and discrimination, Stigma, Marginalization, Social Suffering, Child Abuse and Domestic Violence
• Peace Psychology: Violence, non-violence, conflict resolution at a macro level, the 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 behaviours, Lifestyle and Chronic diseases [Diabetes, Hypertension, Coronary Heart Disease], Psychoneuroimmunology [Cancer, HIV/AIDS] 
• Psychology and Technology Interface: Digital learning, Digital etiquette, Cyberbullying, Cyber Pornography: Consumption, implications, Parental mediation of Digital Usage