Prabhav Joshi (AIR 23) gives tips on Psychology as an optional in IAS
SUBTOPIC 0: My Brief Profile
Hey! I am a graduate in Chemical Engg. from BITS Pilani. I have consistently scored well in Psycho: 217 in 2012 and 249 in 2013(which propelled me to AIR 23). I fell in love with psychology at the first sight reading and enjoyed preparing the subject to the core!
SUBTOPIC 1
Psychology as an optional
Pros
1) Very very interesting subject to study. Everyone I have come across finds this optional interesting without fail. I think interest in the optional should be the prime criteria for choosing any optional because when you are passionate about something you will enjoy the whole process.
2) Has been fairly scoring over the last 4/5 years. No fear of getting butchered because its no more a mass optional like pub ad and geo
3) Direct application of lot of concepts paper 1 in paper 2 reduces the amount of mugging required.
4) Techniques learnt while reading topics like memory, intelligence, motivation etc can be applied in your UPSC preparation.
5) From stress management to effective parenting, the subject has lots to offer for implementation in everyday life too... Even In case you do not succeed, you would have learnt something valuable in life!
Cons
1) Dearth of material in certain topics, especially in paper 2.
2) The syllabus is a bit lengthy with 28 chapters.
3) Scoring in paper 2 is little subjective and unpredictable.
SUBTOPIC 2
SOURCES
