Psychology UPSC PYQ 2014

What psychological techniques can be used to enhance cleanliness in public places?

How can teachers help in meeting the educational needs of a child suffering from ADHD ?

What is the purpose of item analysis ? How would you carry it out for a test of aptitude ?

What are the main types of meditation? Describe their effects on cognitive functioning.

Compare the limits of artificial intelligence and human information processing system. Discuss their implications for human performance.

What are the distinctive features of probability learning? How useful is it in real life?

Discuss the implications of employing group decision-making in issues involving development in the Indian cultural context.

Discuss the role of various neural and physiological processes in emotional experiences.

What social and psychological factors come in the way of population control in India ?

What is meant by unconditional positive regard ?

What are the various kinds of threats to the validity of experimental research? Illustrate your answer with the help of examples.

Explain the concept of 'sensory adaptation' and discuss its uses in day-to-day life.

Discuss the theoretical bases of behaviouristic approaches of psychotherapy.

As a psychologist, develop a programme to bring about attitudinal change in favour of small family norm.

What is meant by rule learning? Describe some important rules along with description of the concepts related to each rule.

Discuss the main aspects of cognitive and moral development during adolescence.

To what extent, do you think that the principles of management derived from the study of industrial organisations can be applied to improve the functioning of bureaucratic organisations in India ?

Explain psychological characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.

What psychological motives have retarded economic development in India, according to some psychologists ? Discuss.

What role can mental imagery play in enhancing the performance of sportspersons ? Discuss.

Describe the problems in the assessment of intelligence of children with special needs.

What is the role of constructive and reconstructive processes in human memory? Explain.

What are the key components of emotional intelligence? How can parents and teachers help facilitate its development in school-going children?

Considering some successful advertisements witnessed by you, describe the key factors that enhance the effectiveness of communication.

Distinguish between 'social learning' and 'conditioning'.

Which rehabilitative strategies can be employed by the organisations to handle the workplace violence ?

Discuss the roots of gender-related prejudice in the Indian society. Why is it so resistant?

How can the adverse consequences of social disadvantage be alleviated ?

Enumerate the factors that can impact upon the teaching-learning process in rural India.

Describe the uses of factor analysis in psychological research and indicate different types of rotations used in it.

Present an outline of the ecological perspective as an innovative approach to facilitate developmental outcomes.

What is the role of cognitive factors in determining emotional functioning? Discuss.

Can leaders be trained ? What will be the essential components of a leadership training programme for the civil servants ?

Is self-serving bias universal in attribution process? Comment.

What has been learned through experiments about the strategies and knowledge base of experts? Discuss.

Discuss how happiness may influence psychological well-being and health.

Is perception a constructive process? Explain in the light of studies on illusions and constancies.

What therapy will be most efficacious in case of someone who is suffering from depression ? Give reasons in support of your answer.

What psychological factors keep the group of terrorists cohesive ?

What are gender stereotypes in India ? How do they feed into gender discrimination ?

Commenting on bilingualism and multilingualism in the Indian context, outline a language policy relevant to schooling.

What psychological knowledge will you put to use for social inclusion of the stigmatized ?

What are the psychological disadvantages of learning in the distant mode through IT compared to classroom learning ?

Briefly discuss the evolution of psychoanalytic theory as reflected in the works of Fromm, Erikson and Sudhir Kakar.

Explain how the creation of superordinate goals can help in resolving social conflicts.

What are the multivariate techniques used in psychological research? Indicate their uses.

How is self related to culture? Discuss in the light of studies on self-construal and individualism-collectivism.

What factors can impede fair assessment of individual differences ? Examine in the light of research evidence.

What psychological conditions keep the poor in a socially disadvantaged state ?

How will you distinguish between anxiety and mood disorders ?

State the challenges the psychologists are likely to face in the rehabilitation of criminals.

What psychological knowledge can be used to develop a programme for women entrepreneurs ?

Do you think that natural sciences provide a good model for psychological studies? Give arguments in favour of your answer.

What different types of norms will a psychologist need to develop a test of general mental ability for use in India ?

In what ways 'within factorial design' differs from 'between factorial design'?

Distinguish between single-process theory and dual-process theory of short-term memory.