CBSE 11th Class Psychology Syllabus

Course Structure

Part/Unit	Topics	Marks
A	Theory	70
1	What is Psychology	7
2	Methods of Enquiry in Psychology	10
3	The bases of Human Behaviour	8
4	Human Development	6
5	Sensory, Attentional and Perceptual Processes	8
6	Learning	9
7	Human Memory	8
8	Thinking	7
9	Motivation and Emotion	7
B	Practical	30
1	Practical (Experiments) file	5
2	Project File	5
3	Viva	5
4	One Experiment	15
Total		100

Course Syllabus

Unit I: What is psychology?

• Introduction
• What is Psychology?
  • Consciousness (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material) −
    • 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
• Development of Psychology in India
• Branches of Psychology
• Themes of Research and Applications
• Psychology and Other Disciplines
• Psychologists at Work
• Psychology in Everyday Life −
  • Linkages across psychological processes (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)

Unit II: Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

• Introduction
• Goals of Psychological Enquiry −
  • Steps in Conducting Scientific Research
  • Alternative Paradigms of Research
• Nature of Psychological Data
• Some Important Methods in Psychology −
  • Observational Method
  • Experimental Method
  • Correlational Research
  • Survey Research
  • Psychological Testing
  • Case Study
• Analysis of Data
  • Quantitative Method −
    • Concepts and computation of the Measures of Central Tendency
    • Graphical Presentation of Data: Bar, Histogram, Polygon (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)
  • Qualitative Method
• Limitations of Psychological Enquiry
• Ethical Issues

Unit III: The Bases of Human Behaviour

• Introduction
• Evolutionary Perspective
• Biological and Cultural Roots
• Biological Basis of Behaviour −
  • Neurons
• Structure and Functions of Nervous System and
• Endocrine System and their Relationship with
• Behaviour and Experience −
  • The Nervous System −
    • Sleep and Wakefulness (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)
  • The Endocrine System
• Heredity −
  • Genes and Behaviour
• Cultural Basis: Socio-Cultural Shaping of Behaviour −
  • Concept of Culture
• Enculturation
• Socialisation
• Acculturation −
  • Globalization (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)
  • Diversity and Pluralism in the Indian Context (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)

Unit IV: Human Development

• Introduction
• Meaning of Development −
  • Life-Span Perspective on Development
• Factors Influencing Development
• Context of Development
• Overview of Developmental Stages −
  • Prenatal Stage
• Infancy
• Childhood
• Challenges of Adolescence
• Adulthood and Old Age

Unit V: Sensory, Attentional, and Perceptual Processes

• Introduction
• Knowing the world
• Nature and varieties of Stimulus
• Sense Modalities −
  • Visual Sensation
  • Auditory Sensation
• Attentional Processes −
  • Selective Attention
  • Sustained Attention
• 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 −
  • Person Perception

Unit VI: Learning

• Introduction
• Nature of Learning
• Paradigms of Learning
• Classical Conditioning
• Determinants of Classical Conditioning
• Operant/Instrumental Conditioning −
  • Determinants of Operant Conditioning
  • Key Learning Processes
• Observational Learning
• Cognitive Learning
• Verbal Learning
• Concept Learning
• Skill Learning
• Transfer of Learning −
  • Learning Curve (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)
• Factors Facilitating Learning
• The Learner −
  • Learning Styles
• Learning Disabilities
• Applications of Learning Principles

Unit VII: Human Memory

• Introduction
• Nature of memory
• Information processing Approach: The Stage Model
  • An alternative approach – The Information Processing Perspective (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)
• Memory Systems − Sensory, Short-term and Long-term Memories
• Levels of Processing
• Types of Long-term Memory
  • Declarative and Procedural; Episodic and Semantic
• Knowledge Representation and Organisation in Memory
• Memory as a Constructive Process
• Nature and Causes of Forgetting
  • Forgetting due to Trace Decay, Interference and Retrieval Failure
  • Pathologies related to Memory (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)
• Enhancing Memory
  • Mnemonics using Images and Organisation

Unit VIII: Thinking

• Introduction
• Nature of Thinking
  • Building Blocks of Thought
• The Processes of Thinking
• Problem Solving
• Reasoning
• Decision-making
• Nature and Process of Creative Thinking
  • Nature of Creative Thinking
  • Process of Creative Thinking
• Developing Creative Thinking
  • Barriers to Creative Thinking
  • Strategies for Creative Thinking
• Thought and Language
  • Stages of Cognitive Development Introduction to the ideas of Piaget, and Vygotsky (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)
• Development of Language and Language Use

Unit IX: Motivation and Emotion

• Introduction
• Nature of Motivation
• Types of Motives
  • Biological Motives
  • Psychosocial Motives
• Maslow‟s Hierarchy of Needs
• Nature of Emotions
• Physiological Bases of Emotions
• Cognitive Bases of Emotions
• Cultural Bases of Emotions
• Expression of Emotions
  • Culture and Emotional Expression
  • Culture and Emotional Labelling
• Managing Negative Emotions
• Enhancing Positive Emotions
  • Human Existence (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)
  • Competence (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)
  • Self-efficacy (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)
  • Intrinsic motivation (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)
  • Development of positive emotions (From the CBSE Supplementary Reading Material)