Semester III: Psychology and Self
Unit I:Variations in Psychological Attributes
The unit aims at studying how people differ with respect to their various psychological attributes.
Individual differences in human functioning; Assessment of psychological attributes; Intelligence: Individual differences in intelligence; Theories of intelligence; Culture and intelligence; Special abilities: Aptitude — nature and measurement; Creativity; Emotional intelligence.
Unit II: Self and Personality
This unit focuses on the study of self and personality in the context of different approaches in an effort to appraise the person. The assessment of personality will also be discussed.
Concepts of self, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-regulation; Culture and self; Concept of personality; Major approaches — Type and Trait, Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Behavioural, Cultural; Assessment of personality : Self-report measures, behavioural analysis, and projective measures.
Unit III: Meeting Life Challenges
This unit deals with the nature of stress and how responses to stress depend on an individual’s appraisal of stressors. Strategies to cope with stress will also be dealt with .
Nature, types and sources of stress; Effects on psychological functioning and health; Coping with stress; Promoting positive health and well-being.
Unit IV: Psychological Disorders
This unit discusses the concepts of normality and abnormality and the major psychological disorders.
Concepts of abnormality and psychological disorders; Classification of disorders; Factors underlying abnormal behaviour; Major psychological disorders – Anxiety, Somatic, Dissociative, Mood, Schizophrenic, Developmental and Behavioural-Substance use related.
Unit V: Therapeutic Approaches
The unit discusses the goals, techniques, and effectiveness of different approaches to treat psychological disorders.
Nature and process of therapy: Therapeutic relationship; Types of therapies: Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Cognitive, Behaviour and Bio-medical ; Alternative therapies — Yoga, Meditation; Rehabilitation of mentally ill.
Semester IV: Psychology and Society
Unit VI: Attitude and Social Cognition
This unit focuses on formation and change of attitudes, cultural influences on attributional tendencies and conditions influencing pro-social behaviour.
Explaining social behaviour: Impression formation and explaining behaviour of others through attributions; Social cognition; Schemas and stereotypes; Nature and components of attitudes; Attitude formation and change; Behaviour in the presence of others; Pro-social behaviour; Prejudice and discrimination; Strategies for handling prejudice.
Unit VII: Social Influence and Group Processes
The unit deals with the concept of group, its functions and the dynamics of social influence on conformity, obedience and compliance. Different conflict resolution strategies will also be discussed.
Conformity, Obedience, and Compliance; Cooperation and Competition; Nature and formation of groups; Types of groups; Social identity; Influence of group on individual behaviour; Inter-group conflicts; Conflict resolution strategies.
Unit VIII: Psychology and Life
The unit focuses on the application of psychological understanding to some important social issues.
Human-environment relationship; Environmental effects on human behaviour: Noise, pollution, crowding, natural disasters; Promoting pro-environmental behaviour; Psychology and social concerns: Aggression, Violence and Peace, Discrimination and Poverty, health, impact of television on behaviour.
Unit IX: Developing Psychological Skills
The unit deals with some effective psychological and interpersonal skills for facilitating personalsocial development .
Effective psychological skills: Observational skills, Interviewing skills, Testing skills, Counselling skills — empathy, authenticity, positive regard, and Communication skills — listening.
Practicals for Semesters III and IV
(Projects, Psychological Testing, Case Studies, etc.)
The students shall be required to prepare one case profile and conduct five practicals related to the topics covered in the course. The case profile will include developmental history of the subject, using both qualitative (observation, interview, rating etc.) and quantitative approaches. Practicals would involve using standardised psychological assessment devices in different domains (intelligence, personality , aptitude, adjustment, attitude, self-concept, and anxiety).