UPSC offers the subject of psychology as optional. Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its roles that have negative influences. It’s a fascinating subject to study about the human mind and behaviors etc. therefore, many people nowadays opting for psychology. But not everyone can solve the UPSC exam. It is one of the trickiest subjects considered to prepare for an exam due to its consideration in the life sciences domain, natural science domain, and social sciences domain. Therefore, it is a challenging thing to Psychology Preparation Strategy For UPSC.
Proper strategies are necessary for Psychology Preparation Strategy For UPSC Exam. Without pre-planned preparation, it is pretty tough to solve the exam. So let’s have a look at the strategy to prepare for the UPSC exam thoroughly!
2 papers are taken for psychology subjects. Paper 1 in psychology is more theoretical, and it covers basic rules of the topics- cognitive psychology, foundation of psychology, personality, and contemporary psychology. Whereas the 2nd paper deals with the application part and practical uses, therefore, its syllabus is more extra, and needs more effort to solve this exam.
Paper 1 strategy:
It is not much difficult to solve as paper one is theoretically based.
You must make your base and grip on paper 1 subjects and understand everything theoretically to move further and solve paper 2. Try to develop a proper understanding of the syllabus. If you lose your grip on basic things, you won’t be able to solve anything.
- You should follow a book by Robert Baron for the paper. Otherwise, you can also follow Psychology by Saundra Ciccarelli.
- It has become famous that most questions are being asked from the chapter “Research Method” from the past few years. So never skip any part of the chapter and get all the understanding of it.
- The major topics are repeatedly present like working memory, attitude, values and interest, intrinsic motivation, issues in modern psychology, etc., in every exam, so you have to ensure your grip on these topics and gain marks from them.
- Paper 1 is theoretical, so you should organize every answer and write it to the point that is specifically related to the question and do not write any additional statement that is not required.
There are some less important topics, so understand those topics as well, so that if there is any tricky or reasoning question, you can also solve it. Do not cram things because cramming doesn’t work for UPSC exams.
Paper 2 strategy
Paper 2 is application-oriented and has trickier things to understand, and requires more effort to solve this paper. A thorough study of concepts is necessary from a well-known book and the practice of well-written answers in the exam.
- Start your preparation from Applied Psychology by Smarak Swain for paper 2. It is helpful for you to ace paper 2.
- Paper 1 and paper 2 are interconnected- therefore, make your answers linked from paper 1 concepts and theories. Write and elaborate on everything required.
- Using flow charts to give proper and to-the-point answers is always a good option because the checker needs less effort to find the answer. Therefore, flow charts present a neat arrangement of paper and fetch more marks.
- Paper 2 deals with applied psychology, so examples and diagrams for the support of your answer work.
UPSC is known for asking sometimes unconventional questions so prepare yourself for them too. It means you have to solve the paper with a strategy to manage and complete it in time. Incorporate principles, case studies, experiments regarding the question to make it more clear. To solve this portion, you need to have a thorough understanding of the subject.
Make a better perspective and learn more from solving test series. It helps you to know where you stand to ace the subject. For the final exam, it is necessary to understand the format and solve it earlier in a test series and rank yourself for better preparation.
Follow the questions that have been asked in paper 2 for past years. It is not always necessary that the same questions appear. But get a grip on those papers that have already come in previous years of UPSC exams.
You should revise the syllabus thoroughly before the exam.
Do the practice management of time and answer lengths
Follow all the strategies to get the desired marks and watch the current matters regularly
Read More:-