Latest Syllabus of NTA UGC NET JRF SET Psychology Paper 2
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, and lack of distinct disciplinary identity.
Western: Greek heritage, medieval period, and modern period. Structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, Gestalt, behaviorism, humanistic-existential, transpersonal, the cognitive revolution, and multiculturalism. Four founding paths of academic psychology—Wundt, Freud, James, and Dilthey— Issues: Crisis in psychology due to strict adherence to the 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 Cooperative Inquiry. 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.
2. Research Methodology and Statistics
Research: Meaning, Purpose, and Dimensions. Research problems, variables and operational definitions, hypothesis, and sampling. Ethics in conducting and reporting research.
Paradigms of research: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches. Methods of research: Observation, Survey (Interview, Questionnaires), Experimental, Quasi-experimental, Field Studies, Cross-Cultural Studies, Phenomenology, Grounded Theory, Focus Groups, Narratives, Case Studies, and 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, and 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, and ANCOVA. Single-subject designs.
3. Psychological Testing
Types of tests, Test construction: item writing, item analysis, and test standardization: reliability, validity, and norms.
Areas of testing: Intelligence, Creativity, Neuropsychological tests, Aptitude, Personality assessment, Interest inventories, Attitude scales—semantic differential, Staples, and Likert scale. Computer-based psychological testing.
Applications of psychological testing in various settings: clinical, organizational and business, education, counseling, and military. Career guidance.
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, and 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 and hormonal regulation of behavior. Genetics and behavior: Chromosomal anomalies; nature-nurture controversy [twin studies and adoption studies].
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; Behavior modification and its applications, Cognitive approaches in learning: latent learning and 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), and long-term memory (declarative—episodic and semantic—and procedural). Theories of Forgetting: Interference, Retrieval Failure, Decay, and Motivated Forgetting.
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: Types, strategies, and obstacles; decision-making: types and models.
Metacognition: Metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation; Intelligence: Spearman, Thurstone, Jensen, Cattell, Gardner, Stenberg, Goleman, Das, Kar, and Parrila; Creativity: Torrance, Getzels and Jackson, Guilford, Wallach and Kogan, and the Relationship between Intelligence and Creativity.
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, and 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, and 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, and Lindsley. Emotion regulation, conflicts: sources and types
Stress and Coping: Concept, Models, Type A, B, C, and D Behaviors, and Stress Management Strategies (Biofeedback, Music Therapy, Breathing Exercises, Progressive Muscular Relaxation, Guided Imagery, Mindfulness, Meditation, Yogasana, and Stress Inoculation Training).
8. Social Psychology
Nature, scope, and history of social psychology; traditional theoretical perspectives: field theory, cognitive dissonance, sociobiology, psychodynamic approaches, and 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, and Social Exchange Theory).
Applied social psychology: Health, environment, and law; personal space, crowding, and territoriality.
9. Human Development and Interventions
Developmental processes: nature, principles, factors in development, and stages of development. Successful aging. Theories of development: Psychoanalytical, behavioristic, and cognitive aspects of various developments: Sensory-motor, cognitive, language, emotional, social, and moral.
Psychopathology: Concept, Mental Status Examination, Classification, Causes.
Psychotherapies: Psychoanalysis, person-centered, Gestalt, existential, acceptance and commitment therapy, behavior therapy, REBT, CBT, MBCT, play therapy, positive psychotherapy, transactional analysis, dialectic behavior therapy, art therapy, performing art therapy, and family therapy.
Applications of theories of motivation and learning in school, Factors in educational achievement Teacher effectiveness, Guidance in schools: Needs, organizational setup, and techniques. Counselling: Process, skills, and techniques.
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 the macro level, and the role of media in conflict resolution.
Well-being and self-growth: Types of well-being [hedonic and eudemonic], character strengths, resilience, and post-traumatic growth.
Health: Health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors, lifestyle, chronic diseases [diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease],and psychoneuroimmunology [cancer, HIV/AIDS].
Psychology and technology interface: digital learning; digital etiquette: cyberbullying; cyber pornography: consumption, implications; parental mediation of digital usage.
