AHSEC 1st Year Syllabus 2024-25 Psychology

PSYCHOLOGY
SYLLABUS FOR HIGHER SECONDARY FIRST YEAR COURSE

Rationale:
Psychology is introduced as an elective subject at the higher secondary stage of
school education. As a discipline, psychology specializes in the study of
experiences, behaviors and mental processes of human beings within a socio-
cultural historical context. This course purports to introduce the learners to the basic
ideas, principles, and methods in Psychology. The emphasis is to create interest and
exposure needed by learners to develop their own knowledge base and
understanding.

The course deals with psychological knowledge and practices which are contextually
rooted. It emphasizes the complexity of behavioral processes and discourages
simplistic cause-effect thinking. This is pursued by encouraging critical reasoning,
allowing students to appreciate the role of cultural factors in behavior and illustrating
how biology and experiences shape behavior.

It is suggested that the teaching - learning processes should involve students in
evolving their own understanding, therefore, teaching of Psychology should be
based on the use of case studies, narratives, experiential exercises, analysis of
common everyday experiences, etc.

Objectives:

 To develop appreciation about human mind and behavior in the context of
learners’immediate society and environment.
 To develop in learners an appreciation of the nature of
psychologicalknowledge and its application to various aspects of life.
 To enable learners to become perceptive, socially aware and self-reflective.
 To facilitate students’ quest for personal growth and effectiveness, and to
enable them to become responsive and responsible citizens.

PSYCHOLOGY

SYLLABUS FOR HIGHER SECONDARY FIRST YEAR COURSE, 2023-2024

One Paper Time: Three hours Marks: 100

Unit wise Distribution of Marks & Periods:
Units Topic No. of Marks
s periods
I Introduction to Psychology 25 15
II Methods of Enquiry in Psychology 20 10
III Human Development 20 10
IV Sensory, Attentional and Perceptual 25 15
Processes
V Learning 25 15
VI Human Memory 25 15
VII Thinking 20 10
VIII Motivation and Emotion 20 10
Total 180 100

Unit wise Distribution of Course Contents
Unit I Introduction to Psychology 25 Periods

 INTRODUCTION
 Nature of Psychology
 Psychology as a Discipline
 Psychology as a Natural Science
 Psychology as a Social Science
 Understanding Mind and Behaviour
 Popular Notions about the Discipline of Psychology
 Evolution of Psychology: Some interesting landmarks
in the evolution of modern Psychology
 Development of Psychology in India
 Branches of Psychology
 Themes of research and applications
 Psychology and Other Disciplines
 Psychologists at work
 Psychology in Everyday Life
Unit II Methods of Enquiry in Psychology 20 Periods
 Goals of Psychological Enquiry: Steps in Conducting
Scientific Research; Alternate paradigms of research

 Nature of Psychological Data
 Some Important Methods in Psychology
 Observational Method
 Experimental Method
 Correlation Research
 Survey Research
 Case Study
 Psychological Testing

 Analysis of Data
 Quantitative Method
 Qualitative Method
 Limitations of Psychological Enquiry
 Ethical Issues

Unit IIIHuman Development 20 Periods
 Meaning of Development
 Life-Span Perspective on Development;
 growth; development; maturation and evolution
 Factors Influencing Development
 Context of Development
 Overview of Developmental Stages
 Prenatal Stage
 Infancy
 Childhood
 Gender and sex roles
 Challenges of Adolescence
 Adulthood and Old Age
Unit IV Sensory, Attentional and Perceptual Processes 25 Periods
 Knowing the world
 Nature and varieties of Stimulus
 Sense modalities
 Attentional Processes
 Selective Attention
 Divided attention
 Sustained Attention
 Span of attention
 Attention deficit
hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD)

 Perceptual Processes
 Processing Approaches in Perception
 The Perceiver
 Principles of Perceptual Organisation
 Perception of Space, Depth and Distance
 Monocular Cues and Binocular Cues
 Perceptual Constancies
 Illusions
 Socio-Cultural Influences on Perception
Unit V Learning 25 Periods
 Nature of Learning
 Paradigms of Learning
 Classical Conditioning
 Determinants of Classical Conditioning
 Operant/Instrumental Conditioning
 Determinants of Operant Conditioning
 Differences of Classical and operant
conditioning
 Key Learning Processes
 Learned helplessness
 Observational Learning
 Cognitive Learning
 Verbal Learning
 Skill Learning
 Factors Facilitating Learning
 Learning Disabilities
Unit VI Human Memory 25 Periods
 Nature of memory
 Information Processing Approach : The Stage Model
 Memory Systems : Sensory, Short-term and Long-
term Memories; working memory
 Levels of Processing
 Types of Long-term Memory
 Declarative and Procedural; Episodic and
Semantic; Classification of long term memory;
methods of memory measurement
 Nature and Causes of Forgetting

 Forgetting due to Trace Decay, Interference and
Retrieval Failure; Repressed memories
 Enhancing Memory
 Mnemonics using Images and Organization
Unit VII Thinking 20 Periods
 Nature of Thinking
 Building Blocks of Thought;
 Culture and thinking
 The Processes of Thinking
 Problem Solving
 Reasoning
 Decision-making
 Nature and Process of Creative Thinking
 Nature of Creative Thinking
 Lateral thinking
 Process of Creative Thinking
 Strategies for creative thinking
 Thought and Language
 Development of Language and Language Use
: Bilingualism and multilingualism
Unit VIII Motivation and Emotion 20 Periods
 Nature of Motivation
 Types of Motives
 Biological Motives
 Psychosocial Motives
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Nature of Emotions
 Expression of Emotions
 Culture and Emotional Expression
 Culture and Emotional Labeling
 Managing Negative Emotions
 Post traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD)
 Management of examination anxiety
 Enhancing Positive Emotions

Prescribed Textbook:

1. Manobigyan, HS 1st Year, Published by AHSEC.
2. Psychology, Class XI, Published by NCERT.