FYBA Psychology Mumbai University Question Paper Pattern

FYBA Psychology Question Paper Pattern of Mumbai University – [PAPER I Fundamentals of Psychology] w.e.f the academic year 2016-2017 onwards.

Question Paper Pattern for Semester I:-

Duration of examination = 3 hours     Marks = 100 (per semester)

All 5 questions carry 20 marks and are compulsory. (5*20= 100 Marks in Total)

**There will be internal choice in each Question.

Q. 1 will have 2 essay-type questions A and B of 20 marks on any 2 different units out of the 4 units covered in the semester, in any combination like 1 and 2, 1 and 4, 2 and 4, and so on.

Q. 2 will have 2 essay-type questions A and B on the other 2 units out of the 4 units which are not covered in Q. no. 1. Students can answer either A or B of question no. 1 and 2.

Q. 3 will be - Write any 4short notes out of 8, based on any 2 different units out of the 4 units covered in the semester, with 4 notes from each of the 2 units.

Q. 4 will be - Write any 4 short notes out of 8, based on any 2 different units out of the 4 units covered with 4 notes from each of the 2 units which are not covered in question number 3

Q. 5 will be Short answers .Any two out of four ; 1 question from each of the 4 units .Each question carrying 10 marks.

Revised Pattern of Question Paper for Semester 2 where Unit 4 is on Statistics :-

Duration of examination = 3 hours     Marks = 100 (per semester)

All 5 questions carry 20 marks and are compulsory. (5*20= 100 Marks in Total)

**There will be internal choice in each Question.

Question no. 1 and 2 will be - similar to the pattern in semester 1, with 1 difference - Instead of full Essay-type question on unit 4 Statistics, the question will be –
1) 5 marks theory question on statistics. 
2) Calculate Mean, Median, Mode, Range and SD of given raw scores and the Z score of one specified score out of the given raw scores. (Mean 3 marks; Median 2; Mode 1; Range 1, SD 6 marks; and Z score 2 marks); The number of scores can be between 9 and 12. Scores should be 2-digit. Use of calculators is allowed. Each step in the calculations should be written, as marks will be assigned for each step, and not just for the final answer. 
Q. no. 3 will be - Write any 4 short notes out of 8 based on any 2 different units out of the 4 units covered with 4 notes from each of the 2 units. 
Q. no. 4 will be - Write any 4 short notes out of 8, based on the other 2 units which are not covered in Q. no. 3 – 
Q. no. 5 will be - Short answers .Any two out of four ; 1 question from each of the 4 units.

Tips on "How to study and prepare for Psychology Exams"!

Tips for Studying Psychology and for Preparing for Psychology Exams :

Psychology exams can be stress inducing for some students while it can be exciting for the ones who are thorough and regular with the subject. Following these simple steps can help psychology students learn new theories and concepts with ease, to help them achieve academic success.

1. Start with understanding your syllabus and its topics given for each semester. Students sometimes are not aware of the syllabus prescribed by the University. Being thorough with the syllabus and its topics helps students know how much time they need to dedicate to each topic according to the difficulty of the subject.

2. Jot down the topics and start ticking them as you begin reading the text. Text reading can be overwhelming for some students but to write your exams you need to understand the topics first! Inculcate the habit of reading and re-reading the text till you understand the concepts fully.

3. Take Notes: As you read the text, write down the key points from the textbook. Notes taking isnt about cutting down or cropping the original text. Its the flowchart-based point-wise notes which you write that helps in understanding the whole text better based upon each persons understanding. Therefore making your own notes is better than simply copying down the already written stuff of others.

4. Practice No Rote-Learning: We as students in India, irrespective of the field of study, have been accustomed to the traditional method of rote-learning. But as applied to all the fields, Psychology also can't be mastered by mugging up the topics or definitions. Psychology needs insight and meaningful understanding of the concepts. Unless you have understood the concept thoroughly, it is advised not to move onto the further. So, as stated earlier read and re-read the texts and try to create your own notes according to your own understanding of each topic of Psychology. Practice mindful learning and make it a habit instead of rote-learning.

5. Planned Hours of Study: Dedicating just a few hours of your day in studying Psychology daily will save last minute rush and confusion!

6. Study difficult topics first : Most students have a habit of leaving the least liked/ difficult topics for the last-minute study. These most difficult topics need extra attention and time compared to the easier ones. Leaving them for the last minute study gives no time to grasp the concepts nor do they understand any, which leads to facing high difficulty at higher levels. Plus poor understanding of the topics will lead to poor answer writing in your exams!

7. Self-Exams: Yes! After learning one chapter, before you move to the other, practice questions given at the end of every topic/unit and try to frame your answers for them. You can also refer to the previous years questions papers. This practice of solving questions and framing self answers helps you to evaluate yourself and also know how much of the subject have you understood. To evaluate you can might as well take help of your teacher/guide and understand where you need to improvise and which areas to focus upon to develop your answer writing skills.

FYBA Psychology Syllabus of University of Mumbai - Paper I Fundamentals of Psychology

FYBA Psychology Syllabus of Mumbai University – [PAPER I Fundamentals of Psychology]

The F.Y.B.A Psychology course covers the "Fundamental concepts of Psychology" and is an introductory course which alone encompasses diverse topics and basic concepts of psychology. The first year provides for the foundation of the higher courses. Therefore planned studying and through understanding of the concepts will benefit in laying a strong foundation for future years.

The Objective of this course is :

1. To impart knowledge of the basic concepts and modern trends in Psychology

2. To foster interest in the subject of Psychology and to create a foundation for further studies in Psychology

3. To make the students aware of the applications of Psychological concepts in various fields so that they understand the relevance of Psychology in different areas of life

**Please Note : The syllabus w.e.f. academic year 2016 has been modified compared to its earlier years.

Now, lets understand the syllabus in details!

The entire year of FYBA is divided into two semesters SEM I and SEM II

SEM I [Fundamentals of Psychology: Part I (Credits = 3)] covers the below mentioned Syllabus :

Unit 1. The story of Psychology and thinking critically with psychological science

a) What is psychology? Psychology’s roots; psychological science is born; psychological science develops; Contemporary Psychology: Psychology’s biggest question, three main levels of analysis, and subfields; Close-up: Improve your retention and grades

b) The need for psychological science - Did we know all along? Hindsight bias; Overconfidence; perceiving order in random events; the scientific attitude: curious, sceptical and humble; Critical thinking

c) How do psychologists ask and answer questions? The scientific method; description; correlation; experimentation; statistical reasoning in everyday life: describing data; significant differences

d) Frequently asked questions about Psychology

Unit 2: The Biology of Mind

a) Biology, Behaviour and Mind

b) Neural Communication – neurons, how neurons communicate, how neurotransmitters influence us

c) The Nervous System - the peripheral and central nervous systems

d) The Endocrine System

e) The Brain - The tools of discovery: having our head examined; older brain structures; the cerebral cortex; our divided brain; right-left differences in the intact brain; Close-Up: Handedness

Unit 3: Learning

a) How do we learn?

b) Classical Conditioning - Pavlov’s experiments; Pavlov’s legacy; Operant Conditioning - Skinner’s experiments; Skinner’s legacy; Contrasting classical and operant conditioning; Close-up: training our partners

c) Biology, Cognition, and Learning - Biological constraints on conditioning; cognition’s influence on conditioning

d) Learning by Observation- Mirrors and imitation in the brain; applications of observational learning; Thinking critically about: Does viewing media violence trigger violent behaviour?

Unit 4: Memory

a) Studying Memory; Memory Models

b) Building Memories - encoding and automatic processing; encoding and effortful processing

c) Memory Storage - Retaining Information in the brain; the Amygdala, emotions, and memory; Synaptic Changes

d) Retrieval: getting information out - measures of retention; retrieval cues

e) Forgetting - Forgetting and the two-track mind; encoding failure; storage decay; retrieval failure; close-up: retrieving passwords

f) Memory construction errors - misinformation and imagination effects; source amnesia; discerning true and false memories; children’s eyewitness recall; repressed or constructed memories of abuse?

g) Improving memory

SEM II [Fundamentals of Psychology: Part II (Credits = 3)] covers the below mentioned Syllabus :

Unit 1. Thinking, Language and Intelligence

a) Thinking – Concepts; Problem solving strategies and obstacles; Forming good and bad decisions and judgments; Thinking critically about: the fear factor- Why we fear the wrong things. Do other species share our cognitive skills?

b) Language: Language structure; language development; close-up: living in a silent world; the brain and language; do other species have language?

c) Thinking and Language: Language influences thinking; thinking in images

d) What is Intelligence? Is intelligence one general ability or several specific abilities? Intelligence and creativity; emotional intelligence; is intelligence neurologically measurable?

e) Assessing Intelligence - the origins of intelligence testing; modern tests of mental abilities; principles of test construction

Unit 2. Motivation and Emotion

a) Motivational Concepts - Instincts and evolutionary psychology; drives and incentives; optimum arousal; a hierarchy of motives

b) Hunger - The physiology and psychology of hunger; obesity and weight control; Close-up: Waist management

c) The Need to Belong - Aiding survival; wanting to belong; sustaining relationships; the pain of ostracism; social networking

d) Cognition and Emotion - Historical emotion theories; cognition can define emotion: Schachter and Singer; Cognition may not precede emotion: Zajonc, LeDoux, and Lazaruse) Embodied Emotion - Emotions and the autonomic nervous system; the physiology of emotions; Expressed emotion – Detecting emotions in others; thinking critically about: lie detection; gender, emotion and nonverbal behaviour; culture and emotional expression; the effects of facial expression; Experienced Emotion – Anger; Happiness; Close-up: Want to be happier?

Unit 3: Personality

a) Psychodynamic Theories: Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective - exploring the unconscious; the neo-Freudian and psychodynamic theorists; assessing unconscious processes; evaluating Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective and modern views of the unconscious

b) Humanistic theories - Abraham Maslow’s self-actualizing person; Carl Rogers’ person-centred perspective; assessing the self; evaluating humanistic theories

c) Trait Theories - Exploring and assessing traits; thinking critically about: how to be a “successful” astrologer or palm reader; The Big Five factors; evaluating trait theories

d) Social cognitive theories - reciprocal influences; personal control; Close-up: toward a more positive psychology; assessing behaviour in situations; evaluating social-cognitive theories

e) Exploring the self - the benefits of self esteem; self-serving bias

Unit 4: Statistics in Psychology: Understanding Data

 a) The tables are turned: a psychologist becomes a research subject

b) Descriptive statistics: frequency distribution

c) Measures of central tendency

d) Measures of variability

e) Z-scores and the normal curve

f) Correlation

g) Inferential statistics

Books for Study prescribed by the University of Mumbai for the 1^st year of Psychology students (FYBA Psychology) that covers all the topics of both the semesters are mentioned below:

1. Myers, D. G. (2013). Psychology. 10th edition; International edition. New York: Worth
Palgrave Macmillan, Indian reprint 2013

2. A separate book is prescribed for Study for "Unit 4. Statistics in Psychology":

Hockenbury, D.H., &Hockenbury, S.E. (2013). Discovering Psychology. 6th edition. New York: Worth publishers