CUET PG 2026 Psychology Question Paper with Solutions

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to identify the prominent philosopher who attempted to resolve the classic mind-body problem.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


René Descartes is famous for formulating Cartesian dualism, which posits that the mind and body are two distinct substances.

Descartes defined the mind as a non-extended, thinking substance (\textit{res cogitans) and the body as an extended, physical substance (\textit{res extensa).

He attempted to resolve the interaction between these two distinct realms by proposing that they communicate through the pineal gland in the brain.

Auguste Comte is known as the father of positivism and sociology, focusing on empirical scientific observation rather than metaphysical mind-body dualism.

George Berkeley proposed subjective idealism, resolving the problem by claiming that only the mind and its ideas exist (\textit{esse est percipi).

James Mill proposed a purely associationist view of the mind, analyzing mental states as mechanical combinations of sensory elements.

Descartes' systematic attempt to explain how physical actions relate to conscious mental experiences remains the cornerstone of the mind-body debate.



Step 3: Final Answer:

René Descartes is the philosopher famous for his systematic attempt to resolve the mind-body problem through interactionist dualism.
Quick Tip: Remember Descartes' pineal gland hypothesis as his biological attempt to solve the mind-body interaction problem, which remains a central theme in physiological psychology and philosophy.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to identify the core subject matter of psychology as defined by the structuralist Edward Bradford Titchener.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


Edward Bradford Titchener was a student of Wilhelm Wundt and the founder of Structuralism in the United States.

Titchener defined psychology as the science of conscious experience, specifically analyzed from the perspective of the experiencing individual.

He believed that consciousness could be broken down into basic, constituent elements: sensations (elements of perceptions), images (elements of ideas), and affections (elements of emotions).

To study these elements, structuralists utilized highly trained self-observation known as experimental introspection.

Titchener rejected the study of unconscious processes (which was later popularized by Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis).

Sub-conscious and meta-conscious concepts were outside the structuralist definition of psychology's empirical scope.



Step 3: Final Answer:

According to Edward Bradford Titchener, the proper subject matter of psychology is Conscious experience.
Quick Tip: Structuralism always equates the mind to the sum total of conscious experience at any given moment, studied via analytic introspection.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to identify the type of glial cell that physically wraps around and supports the synaptic junctions of neurons.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


Astrocytes are star-shaped glial cells in the central nervous system that play a crucial role in maintaining synaptic structures.

They extend processes that wrap around the synaptic cleft and synaptic terminals of axons, forming what is known as the "tripartite synapse."

By wrapping around synapses, astrocytes isolate them chemically, uptake excess neurotransmitters (such as glutamate), and regulate ion concentrations (like potassium).

Microglia function as the primary immune defense of the central nervous system, acting as phagocytes to clear cellular debris and pathogens.

Oligodendrocytes produce the myelin sheath that insulates axons within the central nervous system.

Schwann cells provide myelin sheathing for axons in the peripheral nervous system.

Therefore, only astrocytes are physically positioned to envelop and chemically regulate synaptic terminals.



Step 3: Final Answer:

Astrocytes are the glial cells that wrap around the synaptic terminals of axons to assist in synaptic transmission and maintenance.
Quick Tip: Remember the concept of the "tripartite synapse" which consists of: 1. Presynaptic membrane, 2. Postsynaptic membrane, and 3. Astrocytic processes wrapping them.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks for the biological classification of the light-sensitive receptor protein rhodopsin.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


Rhodopsin is the photopigment located in the outer segment of rod cells in the retina, responsible for dim-light vision.

Structurally, rhodopsin belongs to the superfamily of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), characterized by seven transmembrane domains.

Unlike typical GPCRs in the nervous system that are activated by chemical ligands (neurotransmitters), rhodopsin is activated by light (photons).

When light strikes the 11-cis-retinal cofactor inside rhodopsin, it isomerizes to all-trans-retinal, causing a conformational change in the opsin protein.

This conformational change activates a specialized G-protein called transducin, initiating the visual phototransduction cascade.

There are no standard categories named "C-protein," "M-protein," or "n-protein" coupled receptors in standard neurobiology.



Step 3: Final Answer:

Rhodopsin is structurally and functionally classified as a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR).
Quick Tip: Even though GPCRs are famous for neurotransmission, some function as sensory receptors. Rhodopsin is the classic evolutionary example of a light-activated GPCR.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks to identify the specific cortical region that acts as the primary receiver of sensory signals relayed from the thalamus.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


The thalamus acts as the "gateway" or major relay station for sensory systems (excluding olfaction) before information reaches the cerebral cortex.

Specific thalamic relay nuclei project directly to dedicated regions of the cerebral cortex known as the primary sensory cortices.

For example, the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus projects to the primary visual cortex (V1), and the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) projects to the primary auditory cortex (A1).

The secondary sensory cortex receives highly processed inputs primarily from the primary sensory cortex rather than directly from thalamic relay nuclei.

Sensory motor cortex is a functional overlap zone involved in motor integration, not the primary destination of raw thalamic sensory relays.

Lateral sensory cortex is not a standard functional-anatomical division used to describe primary sensory processing.



Step 3: Final Answer:

The area of the sensory cortex receiving direct projections from the thalamic relay nuclei is the Primary sensory cortex.
Quick Tip: Remember the flow of sensory information: Sensory Receptors \(\rightarrow\) Thalamic Relay Nuclei \(\rightarrow\) Primary Sensory Cortex \(\rightarrow\) Secondary Sensory Cortex \(\rightarrow\) Association Cortex.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to identify the reinforcing consequences (rewards) experienced by the cats in Edward Thorndike's classic puzzle-box learning experiments.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


Edward Thorndike placed hungry cats inside a wooden crate called a "puzzle box."

To escape, the cats had to perform a specific mechanical action, such as pulling a loop, stepping on a treadle, or pressing a lever.

Outside the box, a small portion of appetizing food (usually fish) was placed in plain sight of the cat.

When the cat successfully performed the correct action, the door fell open, which allowed the cat to immediately escape the confinement of the box.

Upon escaping, the cat was immediately able to consume the food placed outside.

Therefore, the behavioral response was reinforced by two simultaneous rewards: the negative reinforcement of escaping the cramped box and the positive reinforcement of eating the food.



Step 3: Final Answer:

The cats in Thorndike's puzzle-box experiments were rewarded by both getting out of the box and getting food.
Quick Tip: Thorndike's Law of Effect states that behaviors followed by satisfying states are strengthened. For a hungry, confined cat, both freedom and food comprise this satisfying state.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to identify the specific memory system that enables continuous processing of speech so we can maintain conversational flow by briefly holding onto auditory input.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


Echoic memory is the sensory memory register specialized for holding auditory information for a very brief duration (typically \(2\) to \(4\) seconds).

This "auditory echo" allows the brain to retain the exact acoustic details of the beginning of a sentence long enough to process the complete verbal thought once the sentence ends.

This is what lets you "hear" what someone said even if you were initially distracted when they started speaking.

Iconic memory is the visual counterpart of sensory memory, lasting only a fraction of a second, which is useless for conversational speech.

Short-term memory has a longer duration (\(15\) to \(30\) seconds) and holds cognitive concepts rather than the immediate sensory echo of spoken words.

Long-term memory stores semantic and episodic information indefinitely, rather than serving as the immediate conversational buffer.



Step 3: Final Answer:

Echoic memory is the immediate sensory memory buffer used to keep conversations flowing by preserving auditory inputs long enough to decode speech.
Quick Tip: Echoic memory acts like a "playback" button in your brain, holding speech sounds just long enough for you to recognize their linguistic meaning in real-time conversations.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks for the scientific term that describes how sensory organs convert environmental physical energies into neuroelectrical signals.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


Sensory transduction is the process of converting an environmental physical stimulus (e.g., electromagnetic light waves, mechanical sound waves, chemical odorants) into electrochemical neural impulses.

This process is carried out by specialized sensory receptor cells (such as photoreceptors in the eye, hair cells in the cochlea, and nociceptors in the skin).

Once physical energy is transducted into action potentials, the nervous system can transmit this information to the brain for perceptual processing.

Transition refers generally to passing from one state or place to another.

Transfiltration is not a biological or psychological term.

Transformation is a general term describing structural change, but it lacks the physiological precision of transduction.



Step 3: Final Answer:

The biological conversion of physical stimuli into neural electrical signals is called transduction.
Quick Tip: Transduction is the "translator" of the brain. Without transduction, physical energy (like light or sound) remains completely invisible and uninterpretable to the nervous system.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks to identify the classical theory of emotion asserting that emotional experience and physiological arousal occur simultaneously via thalamic pathways.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion (proposed by Walter Cannon and Philip Bard) argues that emotional feelings and physical arousal are parallel, independent processes.

When an emotion-triggering stimulus is perceived, sensory pathways transmit this information to the thalamus.

The thalamus simultaneously relays this information to the cerebral cortex (producing the subjective experience of emotion) and the autonomic nervous system (triggering bodily arousal).

The James-Lange theory, by contrast, argues that physiological arousal occurs first, and our cognitive perception of that physical state is what we label as emotion.

The Schachter-Singer (two-factor) theory states that emotion is determined by both undifferentiated physiological arousal and a cognitive label applied to it.

The Facial Feedback hypothesis focuses on how facial muscle movements directly modulate emotional experiences.



Step 3: Final Answer:

The theory pointing to simultaneous thalamic distribution of emotional experience and arousal is the Cannon-Bard theory.
Quick Tip: Think of "Cannon-Bard" as a double-barreled shotgun firing at the exact same time: one barrel fires physiological arousal, and the other fires subjective emotional experience.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks to identify the specific motivational need characterized by a strong desire to build relationships, be liked, and work collaboratively.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


David McClelland developed the Acquired Needs Theory, which posits that human motivation is driven by three dominant needs: Achievement, Affiliation, and Power.

The Need for Affiliation (nAff) is characterized by a strong desire for friendly interpersonal relationships, social acceptance, and interpersonal harmony.

Individuals high in nAff thrive in cooperative environments, value team cohesion, and prioritize being liked by peers over personal dominance.

The Need for Power (nPow) involves a desire to control, influence, or lead others, which often conflicts with merely trying to be liked.

The Need for Achievement (nAch) focuses on personal mastery, reaching high standards, and accomplishing challenging tasks individually.

Emotion is not a motivational need category in McClelland's framework.



Step 3: Final Answer:

People who prioritize group acceptance and excel as collaborative team players are high in the need for Affiliation.
Quick Tip: Remember McClelland's triad: nAch = Tasks and mastery; nPow = Control and status; nAff = Social harmony and teamwork.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to complete a statement regarding Robert Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence, specifically concerning real-world success and its relation to traditional academic metrics.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


Robert Sternberg proposed the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence, consisting of analytical (academic), creative, and practical intelligence.

Analytical intelligence involves abstract problem-solving and is typically measured by standard school grades and IQ tests.

Practical intelligence, often called "street smarts," is the ability to adapt to, shape, or select everyday environmental contexts.

Sternberg's research demonstrated that practical intelligence is an excellent predictor of occupational and life success.

However, practical intelligence has a surprisingly weak correlation with traditional academic intelligence, meaning a person can be highly practical without being highly analytical in academic settings.

This distinction separates raw book-smart academic capability from real-world, situational practical intelligence.



Step 3: Final Answer:

Sternberg found that practical intelligence is a strong predictor of success in life but has a low relationship to academic intelligence.
Quick Tip: Think of "practical intelligence" as real-world adaptation (street smarts) which operates independently of formal classroom grading or "academic intelligence" (book smarts).

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to identify the psychosexual developmental stage in Sigmund Freud's theory where fixation leads to an adult personality characterized by excessive orderliness, neatness, and fussiness.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


Sigmund Freud's psychosexual theory postulates that childhood development occurs in stages: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital.

The anal stage (from roughly \(1.5\) to \(3\) years) focuses on pleasure derived from retaining and expelling feces, coinciding with toilet training.

If toilet training is conducted in an excessively harsh, punitive, or rigid manner, the child may experience fixation at this stage.

This fixation results in an "anal-retentive" adult personality, characterized by being overly neat, tidy, orderly, stubborn, stingy, and fussy.

Conversely, a lenient approach can lead to an "anal-expulsive" personality, characterized by messiness, disorganization, and carelessness.

Oral fixation typically leads to dependence, overeating, or smoking; Phallic fixation centers on Oedipal conflicts and gender identity; the Genital stage represents mature adult relationships.



Step 3: Final Answer:

Fixation during the Anal stage of psychosexual development results in an excessively neat, tidy, and fussy adult personality.
Quick Tip: Remember: Anal-retentive = Retaining feces, leading to rigid control, neatness, and frugality. Anal-expulsive = Letting go freely, leading to messiness and disorganization.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks for the fundamental definition of personality from the perspective of behaviorist theorists.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


Behaviorism (championed by B.F. Skinner, John B. Watson, and Albert Bandura) rejects the idea of internal, unobservable mental traits or drives.

Behaviorists view personality not as a stable inner essence, but rather as a comprehensive set of learned responses or habits.

These behaviors are acquired through classical conditioning, operant conditioning, observational learning, and cumulative reinforcement history.

Unconscious forces are the cornerstone of the psychodynamic model (Freud).

Striving for success and self-actualization are core concepts in humanistic and Adlerian psychology.

A collection of specific traits is the core definition of personality according to trait theorists (like Allport, Cattell, and Eysenck).



Step 3: Final Answer:

According to behaviorists, personality is defined as a set of learned responses and habits acquired through environmental conditioning.
Quick Tip: For behaviorists, there is no mysterious "self" inside; what we call "personality" is simply the sum total of our learned behavioral habits.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to identify the psychometric property that describes a test whose items are highly internally consistent and measure a single underlying construct.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


When all items on a psychological test measure the same single construct, the test is said to be unidimensional or homogeneous.

Test homogeneity refers to the degree to which the individual items on a test are intercorrelated and measure a single, unified psychological trait or construct.

High internal consistency (often measured using Cronbach's alpha) is a direct statistical indicator of test homogeneity.

Test fallacy is not a recognized psychometric term.

Test dominance is not a standard property related to internal item consistency.

Test validity refers to whether a test measures what it claims to measure, which is a broader concept that includes external relationships and content coverage, rather than just internal item consistency.

Therefore, a test that is internally consistent because it measures a single construct exhibits high test homogeneity.



Step 3: Final Answer:

The characteristics of a test measuring a single construct with internally consistent items is known as Test homogeneity.
Quick Tip: Remember that test homogeneity and internal consistency are closely related psychometric concepts that indicate all items on a scale are pulling in the same direction to measure one single variable.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to identify the theoretical model of psychopathology that attributes abnormal behavior to illogical thought patterns and cognitive distortions.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


The cognitive model of abnormality, pioneered by Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, asserts that emotional distress and dysfunctional behavior are direct results of irrational beliefs and illogical thinking.

According to this model, individuals with psychological disorders process information through cognitive distortions, such as overgeneralization, catastrophizing, and black-and-white thinking.

The behavioural model views abnormal behavior as learned responses acquired through conditioning and environmental reinforcement.

The biopsychosocial model is an integrative perspective that considers biological, psychological, and social factors simultaneously, without focusing solely on thoughts.

The psychodynamic model attributes abnormality to unconscious, unresolved conflicts originating in early childhood experiences.

Therefore, only the cognitive model explicitly identifies illogical thinking as the root cause of psychological disorders.



Step 3: Final Answer:

The model that explains abnormal behavior as a product of illogical thinking is the Cognitive model.
Quick Tip: Whenever terms like "thinking," "beliefs," "attributions," "schemas," or "thought processes" are mentioned in relation to psychopathology, the correct theoretical framework is always the Cognitive model.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to identify the clinical disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety, intrusive memories, and hyperarousal lasting more than one month following a major traumatic stressor.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying, life-threatening event.

Symptoms of PTSD include intrusive memories (recurring nightmares, flashbacks), avoidance of trauma reminders, negative alterations in mood, and marked hyperarousal (sleep disturbances, concentration problems).

Crucially, the diagnostic criteria in both the DSM-5 and ICD-11 require these symptoms to persist for more than \(1\) month following the trauma.

If the symptoms occur within the first month immediately following the trauma, the diagnosis is Acute Stress Disorder (ASD).

Pre-traumatic stress disorder is not an established clinical diagnosis in psychiatric classification.

General stress disorder is not a formal diagnostic category in standard manuals like DSM-5.



Step 3: Final Answer:

When symptoms like nightmares, hyperarousal, and concentration deficits persist for more than \(1\) month after a major stressor, the diagnosis is Post traumatic stress disorder.
Quick Tip: To distinguish between Acute Stress Disorder and PTSD, look at the timeline: under \(1\) month is Acute Stress Disorder; over \(1\) month is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to arrange the physiological structures of the human visual pathway in the correct sequence through which light-induced neural signals travel from the eye to the brain.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


Visual phototransduction begins at the retina, where light is captured by photoreceptors.

D. Nasal hemiretinas: The sensory signal originates in the photoreceptor and ganglion cells of the nasal portion of the retina (nasal hemiretinas).

E. Optic chiasm: Axons from the nasal hemiretinas travel along the optic nerve and cross over (decussate) to the opposite side of the brain at the optic chiasm.

A. Optic tract: Once past the optic chiasm, the reorganized fibers are referred to as the optic tract.

B. Lateral geniculate nuclei: The optic tract fibers travel to and synapse in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus, which serves as the primary visual relay station.

C. Primary visual cortex: From the LGN, neural impulses travel via optic radiations to the primary visual cortex (striate cortex or area \(17\)) located in the occipital lobe for conscious visual processing.

Therefore, the sequential flow of visual information is D \(\rightarrow\) E \(\rightarrow\) A \(\rightarrow\) B \(\rightarrow\) C.



Step 3: Final Answer:

The correct flow of information through the visual system is D - E - A - B - C.
Quick Tip: Remember that fibers from the nasal hemiretinas always cross at the optic chiasm, while fibers from the temporal hemiretinas do not cross. The sequential path always ends in the occipital lobe (Primary Visual Cortex).

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to arrange the sequential steps of information processing within the traditional three-stage model of memory (Atkinson-Shiffrin model).


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


According to cognitive models of memory and attention, environmental inputs must be selected and processed through distinct memory stages.

B. Selective attention: Before information can be successfully registered or manipulated, selective attention acts as a sensory filter to focus on relevant environmental stimuli.

C. Sensory memory: The attended stimulus is briefly registered in sensory memory (iconic or echoic buffers) for less than a couple of seconds.

A. Maintenance rehearsal: Information selected from sensory memory enters short-term memory, where active maintenance rehearsal keeps the information alive and accessible.

D. Encoding: Through elaborate or rote processing, the rehearsed information is encoded and consolidated into long-term memory.

E. Retrieval: Finally, when the information is needed later, the retrieval process brings the stored memory back from long-term storage into working memory.

Thus, the correct operational sequence of these cognitive processes is B \(\rightarrow\) C \(\rightarrow\) A \(\rightarrow\) D \(\rightarrow\) E.



Step 3: Final Answer:

The correct chronological order of the memory events is B - C - A - D - E.
Quick Tip: Think of the flow of information: you must first pay attention (B) to register a stimulus in memory (C), rehearse it (A) to keep it in short-term storage, encode it (D) for long-term storage, and retrieve it (E) to use it again.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to arrange the anatomical structures of the human olfactory (smell) system from the outermost external structures to the innermost brain-based structures.


Step 2: Detailed Explanation:


D. Nasal Cavity: The outermost part of the system is the nasal cavity, through which airborne chemical odorants enter during inhalation.

C. Cilia: Within the nasal cavity, the odorant molecules bind to the hair-like cilia that project into the olfactory mucosa.

E. Receptor cells: These cilia are the specialized dendrites of the olfactory receptor cells (bipolar neurons) located in the olfactory epithelium.

B. Nerve fibre: The axons of these receptor cells gather together to form olfactory nerve fibers, which pass upward through the tiny openings of the cribriform plate.

A. Olfactory bulb: These nerve fibers terminate and synapse in the olfactory bulb, which is the innermost brain structure of this sequence, located directly beneath the frontal lobe.

This anatomical progression from outside to inside corresponds to the sequence: D \(\rightarrow\) C \(\rightarrow\) E \(\rightarrow\) B \(\rightarrow\) A.



Step 3: Final Answer:

The correct anatomical order from outer to inner structures of the olfactory system is D - C - E - B - A.
Quick Tip: Always use extreme anatomical landmarks to solve pathway questions: the nasal cavity (D) is obviously the most external, while the olfactory bulb (A) is a brain structure and must be the most internal.

Step 1: Understanding the Question:

The question asks us to identify the specific features that define major depressive disorder (MDD) with the specifier "with psychotic features."


Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:

According to clinical diagnostic manuals (DSM-5 / ICD-11), depression with psychotic features involves standard symptoms of major depression accompanied by delusions and/or hallucinations.

These psychotic symptoms are typically mood-congruent, involving depressive themes of severe inadequacy, guilt, or worthlessness.


Step 3: Detailed Explanation:


Let us evaluate each listed clinical symptom:


A. Loss of appetite: This is a somatic symptom commonly seen in standard depressive episodes, but does not define a psychotic specifier.

B. Hallucination: This is a primary diagnostic symptom of a psychotic state. Depressed individuals with psychotic features may hear auditory hallucinations criticizing them.

C. Extensive psychomotor activity: Typically, psychotic depression is marked by severe psychomotor retardation, though extreme agitation can occur. It is not a defining characteristic of the psychotic specifier.

D. Feelings of worthlessness: This is a core depressive symptom. In psychotic depression, these feelings intensify to delusional proportions, such as delusions of ruin, terminal illness, or moral culpability.

E. Hypersomnia: This is a vegetative symptom of atypical depression, not a specific marker for psychotic features.


Thus, B (Hallucination) and D (Feelings of worthlessness, reaching delusional severity) are the defining characteristic symptoms of depression with psychotic features.



Step 4: Final Answer:

The correct option is B \& D Only, which corresponds to Option (B).
Quick Tip: A "psychotic feature" in clinical psychology always involves a break from shared reality.
This is uniquely marked by \textbf{hallucinations} (such as hearing critical voices) and \textbf{delusions} (which can manifest as extreme, delusional feelings of guilt or worthlessness).