Psychology all the way!
Part of choosing your optional subject for CSE should involve assessing how beneficial it will be for your General Studies papers. This article discusses how psychology is not only a "scoring" optional subject but will also give you an edge in GS papers:
As an optional subject, the syllabus has the following components: Foundations of psychology; methods of psychology; research methods; development of human behavior; sensations, attention, and perceptual processes; learning; human memory; thinking and problem solving; motivation and emotion; intelligence and evaluation of human; personal-social; and normative theories.
For the General Studies papers, psychology is a natural fit, as it includes phenomena that are part of the human condition, such as the influence of heredity, environment, and development, and the relation between the mind and the body. Concepts and theories of learning, sensation and perceptions, motivation and emotions, intelligence and IQ tests, and theories of personality are comfortable bedfellows with Indian philosophy and structural-functional theory.
Psychology as an Optional Subject
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behaviour. For the civil services examination, psychology would be the most relevant and scoring optional for the following reasons:
• It would contribute significantly to GS in writing answers related to behavioural issues, would help immensely in the essay and interview.
• It is a scientific discipline covering direct and applied sciences, enabling the student to look at human problems in a scientific and systematic manner, and applications in human problems and issues through organised counselling and other psychological intervention programmes.
• Public administration, political science, medical science, and sociology graduates would find it particularly useful. The subject is useful for psychological applications for both serving administrators and people needing such help.
Syllabus Overview
Foundations of psychology; methods of psychology; human development; attention and perception; learning; memory; thinking, intelligence and creativity; motivational and other drives; human abilities; emotions; personality; measurement and adjustment; micro approaches to the analysis of behaviour in the context of individual, society, and culture.
Key Topics
Human Development, Theories of human development. Role and relationship issues across various stages of life. Self and Personality – Factors responsible for shaping personality. Stresses and coping strategies. Explanations are given by various perspectives.
– Learning – Theories of learning – Behaviourist theories, social learning.
– Memory – Information processing model. Stages of memory – sensory, short-term, and long-term memory. Forgetting and memorizing techniques.
– Sensation and Perception – Sensory mechanisms – vision, hearing, taste, touch, smell. Depth perception and illusion.
– Motivation and Emotion – Various theories like instinct, drive-reduction, arousal, and cognitive theories. Biological needs, psychological motives for food, water, sex, and achievement. Positive and negative emotions.
– Intelligence and Ability Testing – Theories of intelligence. Cultural biases and limitations of IQ.
– Psychological Disorders – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders. Therapy for psychological disorders.
Topics like attitude and social influence, traits, socialization, psychology in industry, leadership, conflict resolution, human relations, problems of adolescents, individual and community, environmental stress, and community support are of hardly any relevance in these competitive examinations. Only if one has some time left for the interview stage of the selection process, questions regarding these topics might be asked there.
Advantages of choosing Psychology
1. Part of the syllabus is general in nature and has wider applicability as compared to other options. The subject helps in understanding one's own self and understanding others. Any change process starts with the self, and the subject helps in self-discipline, emotional control, improving relations, and a satisfactory life.
2. Psychology is a convenient optional, generally having a syllabus manageable within a short time frame. A part of the syllabus helps in the GS third paper.
3. Interdisciplinary, as it has its relevance in several papers of the GS and essays.
4. It is a general interest subject, and part of it adds newness to the GS. Of late, more and more aspirants are seen to have taken psychology as their optional paper and are getting high rankings during the final examinations. The reasons could be many, especially as some of these aspirants are members, and they strongly recommend this as an unmistakable tool for civil service preparation. Here are the most popular and widely accepted causes for taking psychology as an optional subject.
Challenges in preparation
A majority of candidates with psychology as their optional subject possess a graduation degree in it as well, which further enhances their understanding. The problems lie in the vast syllabus and how to approach it according to standards. The syllabus overlaps, further demotivating candidates who have studied psychology at undergraduate level. Many students choose this option with the idea of combining it with General Studies, but the syllabus is so vast that most will end up disliking it.
Candidates have to prepare around 20–25 topics that are removed every year and replaced with new topics. This is a continuous and essential aspect of the preparation. It's like constructing an image from fragments.
It is observed that adherence to the syllabus subtopics mentioned in the psychology syllabus is one of the significant factors in succeeding with this optional.
Avoid referrals in the syllabus, but it's important to gain foundational knowledge.
Sufficient practice means taking maximum tests over the years, post-preparation of content, and also having a reason to look at any information and analyse pending content that is available.
A personal note must be taken while studying for better and more precise answers. UPSC-level psychology coaching is a must for beginners or those who do not have a vast understanding of the subject from conventional books. For those with a geography background, users may also get help from special material for the psychology optional course.
Recommended Resources
Paper 1:
1. Introduction to Psychology
Select chapters from Barron's AP Psychology for the questions in the Paper 1 syllabus.
Methods of Psychology
For research methods, refer to a book on research design in psychology that gives good step-by-step instructions. A predefined statistics book, which has more graphical representation to help understand certain statistical tools well.
Research Methods
The primary source would be a book on Research Methods for the Behavioural Science. A predefined statistics book, which has more graphical representation to help understand certain statistical tools well.
