UGC NET Psycology Emergence of Psychology Syllabus

What is the central question addressed by Functionalism?

Not what the mind IS (its structure) but what the mind DOES - the function and purpose of mental processes in helping organisms adapt to their environment.

Who is the key American figure associated with Functionalism, and what influenced it?

William James (along with Dewey, Angell); it was strongly influenced by Darwin's theory of evolution and adaptation.

Who founded the Psychoanalytic school, and what is its core premise?

Sigmund Freud; behavior is largely determined by unconscious drives, early childhood experiences, and intrapsychic conflict.

What are the three structures of personality in Freud's psychoanalytic theory?

The Id (pleasure principle, instinctual drives), the Ego (reality principle, mediator), and the Superego (morality, internalized ideals).

What is the central principle of Gestalt psychology?

'The whole is different from (more than) the sum of its parts' - perception is organized into meaningful wholes, not assembled from isolated elements.

Who were the founders of Gestalt psychology?

Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka.

What is the core claim of Behaviorism, and who founded it?

Founded by John B. Watson; psychology should study only observable, measurable behavior - not consciousness or introspection - explained through stimulus-response learning.

What distinguishes B.F. Skinner's radical behaviorism?

Emphasis on operant conditioning - behavior is shaped by its consequences (reinforcement and punishment) - extending behaviorism to voluntary behavior.

What is the focus of Humanistic-Existential psychology ('third force')?

Human potential, free will, self-actualization, subjective experience, meaning, and personal growth - reacting against determinism in psychoanalysis and behaviorism.

Name the key figures of Humanistic psychology and a central concept of each.

Abraham Maslow (hierarchy of needs, self-actualization) and Carl Rogers (client-centered therapy, unconditional positive regard, the fully functioning person).

What is Transpersonal psychology often called, and what is its focus?

The 'fourth force'; it studies spiritual, transcendent, and mystical dimensions of human experience that go beyond the personal ego (e.g., peak experiences, higher states of consciousness).

What was the Cognitive Revolution, and roughly when did it occur?

A mid-1950s-1960s shift that restored the study of internal mental processes (perception, memory, thinking, language) using the information-processing (mind-as-computer) model, challenging behaviorism's dominance.

What does the Multiculturalism movement contribute to psychology (the 'fourth/fifth force')?

It emphasizes the role of culture, race, ethnicity, and diversity in shaping behavior, critiquing the Western/Eurocentric bias of mainstream psychology and promoting culturally sensitive theory and practice.

What is Wilhelm Wundt's foundational contribution to psychology?

He established the first formal psychology laboratory at Leipzig, Germany in 1879, marking psychology's birth as an independent experimental science.

Besides experimental psychology, what other branch did Wundt develop for higher mental processes?

Volkerpsychologie (folk/cultural psychology) - the study of language, myth, and customs that he believed could not be studied by laboratory introspection.

What is William James's landmark contribution, and his famous concept of consciousness?

His book 'The Principles of Psychology' (1890); he described consciousness as a continuous, flowing 'stream of consciousness.'

Who was Wilhelm Dilthey, and what distinction did he draw relevant to psychology?

A German philosopher who distinguished the natural sciences (Naturwissenschaften, which 'explain') from the human/cultural sciences (Geisteswissenschaften, which 'understand' - Verstehen), advocating a descriptive, understanding-based psychology.

According to critics, why did mainstream psychology face limitations 'due to strict adherence to the experimental-analytical paradigm'?

Its insistence on reductionism, objectivity, quantification, and laboratory control neglected meaning, context, subjectivity, culture, and lived human experience.

In research philosophy, what does Ontology refer to?

The branch concerning the nature of reality and existence - what is real, and the form/nature of what can be known.

What does Epistemology address in a research paradigm?

The nature of knowledge and the relationship between the knower (researcher) and what can be known - how we know what we know.

What does Methodology refer to in a research paradigm?

The overall strategy or logic of inquiry - how the researcher goes about systematically finding out what they believe can be known.

What are the core ontological and epistemological assumptions of Positivism?

Ontology: a single objective reality exists ('naive realism'); Epistemology: the researcher is detached/objective and knowledge is value-free, gained through empirical, quantitative methods.

How does Post-Positivism modify the positivist position?

It accepts an objective reality but holds it can only be known imperfectly and probabilistically (critical realism); objectivity is a regulative ideal, knowledge is conjectural and falsifiable (Popper).

What is the central aim of the Critical (critical theory) Perspective in research?

To critique and transform unjust social, political, and economic structures; reality is shaped by power relations, and inquiry should emancipate and empower the oppressed.

What is the core claim of Social Constructionism?

Knowledge and reality (especially psychological/social phenomena) are constructed through social interaction, language, and shared cultural meanings rather than discovered as objective facts.

What does Existential Phenomenology study, and through what method?

It studies lived human experience and the meaning of existence as experienced from the first-person perspective, using phenomenological description and bracketing (epoche) of presuppositions.

What is Co-operative Enquiry as a research approach?

A participatory method (developed by John Heron and Peter Reason) in which people research WITH each other rather than ON them - all participants are co-researchers and co-subjects cycling through reflection and action.

Contrast the aims of Structuralism and Functionalism.

Structuralism sought to analyze the STRUCTURE (basic elements) of conscious mind via introspection; Functionalism studied the FUNCTION/purpose of mental activity in adaptation, influenced by evolution.

Contrast the methods favored by Positivism versus Social Constructionism.

Positivism favors objective, quantitative, hypothesis-testing methods to uncover universal laws; Social Constructionism favors qualitative, interpretive methods exploring how meanings are co-constructed in context.

How does Indian psychology's view of the self differ from mainstream Western psychology?

Indian psychology emphasizes a spiritual, transcendent Self (Atman) and consciousness as primary, with growth toward liberation/self-realization; mainstream Western psychology typically treats the self as an ego/personality bounded by the individual organism.

In Buddhist psychology, what is the Eightfold Path's threefold grouping?

Wisdom (right view, right intention), Ethical conduct (right speech, right action, right livelihood), and Mental discipline (right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration).