MPC 001 key facts at a glance
- Course: MPC 001 Cognitive Psychology, Learning and Memory
- Programme: IGNOU Master of Arts in Psychology (MAPC), 1st year
- Syllabus: 4 blocks, 16 units
- Exam: 2 hours, 50 marks, 3 compulsory sections with internal choice
- This file: 31 solved questions, 32 pages, 5 shown below as samples
- Papers analysed: 6 (December 2023 to June 2026)
- Target session: December 2026
MPC 001 Solved Guess Paper is our 32-page exam file for IGNOU MPC 001 Cognitive Psychology, Learning and Memory, with 31 fully solved questions for the December 2026 Term-End Examination. We built it by reading every MPC 001 paper from December 2023 to June 2026, marking what repeats and what has quietly gone missing, and then writing answers at the exact length the paper asks for.
MPC 001 Cognitive Psychology, Learning and Memory is a first-year core course of the IGNOU Master of Arts in Psychology (MAPC), offered by the School of Social Sciences in 4 blocks and 16 units. It moves from memory models to intelligence theories, then to language and finally to problem solving, which is why students often feel the syllabus is four subjects packed into one.
1. What You Get for December 2026
You get 31 solved MPC 001 questions: 16 long answers for Section A, 12 middle answers for Section B and 3 short-note sets for Section C, each tagged with block, unit, priority and the sessions it last appeared in.
Every question card tells you three things before you read a word of the answer: how likely it is to come, which unit it sits in, and the mark split IGNOU uses (for example 3 + 7 or 6 + 4). That split matters. Students who answer a 6 + 4 question as one long block often lose the 4 marks because the examiner cannot find the second part.
The answers are written in plain English from the IGNOU textbook, not from a guidebook summary. Technical words get a short bracket meaning the first time they appear, such as "isomorphism (a one-to-one match)". If you want the same format for your other papers, our full range of IGNOU Solved Guess Paper files follows this layout course by course.
2. MPC 001 Sample Questions with Solved Answers
Below are 5 of the 31 answers, one from each block plus one extra from Block 2, copied as they appear in the paid file so you can judge the quality before you ask for it.
The Atkinson and Shiffrin stage model of memory
Question: Explain the stage model of memory by Atkinson and Shiffrin with the help of a suitable diagram.
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) gave the most widely used information processing model, the stage theory model. It treats learning and memory as discontinuous and multi-staged, with three stages: sensory memory, short-term or working memory, and long-term memory. The full file draws this as a labelled flow diagram.
Stages of memory
- Sensory memory (sensory register): Input from the environment is held very briefly, about half a second for visual stimuli (Sperling, 1960) and 4 or 5 seconds for auditory stimuli (Darwin et al., 1972). It is the entry gate for all information, shaped by attention and automaticity.
- Short-term or working memory: Attended information stays for about 20 to 30 seconds. It is active, conscious memory, kept alive by maintenance rehearsal (repeating) or elaborate rehearsal (linking to stored knowledge). Capacity is about seven items (Miller, 1956).
- Long-term memory: Rehearsed information moves here and the rest is lost. It is organised into categories and may last days, years or a lifetime. Remembering means retrieving the item from this store.
Organisation of long-term memory: Tulving (1972) separated episodic memory (personal events) from semantic memory (general knowledge); together they form declarative memory. Procedural memory is "how to" knowledge (Huitt, 2000).
Memory versus store: Atkinson and Shiffrin separate "memory" (the data retained) from "store" (the structure holding it). The subject largely controls the flow between stores, and information can even enter the long-term store directly from the sensory register.
Conclusion: Memory flows from the sensory register to short-term memory to long-term memory. Attention moves information forward and rehearsal helps it last.
Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence
Question: Describe the Triarchic theory of intelligence by Sternberg.
Robert J. Sternberg (1985) felt earlier theories were not wrong but incomplete. His theory has three subtheories that must interact to explain intelligence fully. Li (1996) called it comprehensive because it adds social and contextual factors to human abilities.
1. Componential (analytical) subtheory
The ability to solve well-defined academic problems with one correct answer.
- Metacomponents control, monitor and evaluate thinking and pick a strategy.
- Performance components carry out the strategy: encoding, holding information in short-term memory, calculating and comparing.
- Knowledge acquisition components gain and store new knowledge, that is, the capacity for learning.
2. Experiential (creative) subtheory
Dealing with new situations using existing skill. Novelty is handling a situation never met before; automation is doing a practised task with little thought. Skill in one does not ensure skill in the other.
3. Contextual (practical) subtheory
Often called "street smarts", it works through adaptation (changing oneself, such as wearing extra clothes in the cold), shaping (changing the environment, such as a teacher's hand-raising rule) and selection (finding a new environment, such as migrating).
Evaluation
It captures processes that conventional tests miss. Gottfredson (2003) called it unempirical, and Das (2004) found it hard to convert into psychometric tests.
Conclusion: Intelligence is a balance of analytical, creative and practical abilities, and success comes from using strengths while making up for weaknesses.
Chomsky's innateness theory compared with the behaviouristic theory
Question: Critically analyse the innateness theory (Chomsky) of language acquisition. Compare it with the behaviouristic theory.
Noam Chomsky criticised the behaviourist view in 1957, pointing to the poor, limited language input children receive. His innateness theory holds that children are born with a capacity for learning human language.
- Language Acquisition Device (LAD): neural circuits carry linguistic information at birth, and hearing speech triggers them.
- Universal features: all languages share principles such as nouns, verbs, consonants and vowels.
- Fast learning: children master their native language in 5 or 6 years, whatever their general intelligence.
- Rule-forming: from "worked" and "played" the child builds a past-tense rule, which produces "virtuous errors" like "drinked".
Evidence: the human vocal tract is adapted for speech, Broca's and Wernicke's areas have clear language functions, and chimpanzees learn single words but little grammar.
Limitations: Chomsky studied grammar rather than real children, ignored caretaker interaction, and the case of Jim (Bard and Sachs, 1977), a hearing child of deaf parents, showed TV and radio were not enough without a speech therapist.
| Point | Behaviouristic theory (Skinner, 1957) | Innateness theory (Chomsky) |
|---|---|---|
| Central idea | Children imitate adults and correct speech is reinforced | The brain holds special language mechanisms at birth |
| How learning happens | Imitation and reinforcement | Inborn LAD triggered by hearing speech |
| Errors like "drinked" | Cannot be explained, since no adult says it | Explained as over-applying a rule |
| Main criticism | Same stages everywhere; critical period (Genie) | Ignores interaction (Jim) |
Conclusion: Language is too complex to be learnt by imitation alone, yet interaction clearly matters, so both nature and environment play a part.
Alfred Binet's contribution to the measurement of intelligence
Question: Discuss the contribution of Alfred Binet towards the measurement of intelligence.
Alfred Binet (1857 to 1911) was asked by the French government to build a reliable way to identify children who needed special help at school.
- Binet-Simon Scale (1905): made with physician Theodore Simon, it had 30 pass or fail items measuring complex mental abilities.
- Breakthrough: intelligence could now be measured in a clinical interview, not only in laboratories.
- Lasting innovations: strict administration, age-graded norms and items ranked from easiest to hardest.
- 1908 revision: items were grouped by age level, and the highest level a child passed became the mental age.
- 1911 revision: extended to adults, with five items per age level.
- Stanford-Binet (1916): Lewis M. Terman revised the scale and added Stern's intelligence quotient (IQ).
Conclusion: Binet made intelligence testing practical and age-based. Mental age, IQ and later tests all grew from his work.
Functional fixedness, with examples
Question: Explain functional fixedness with examples.
Functional fixedness, identified by Duncker (1935), is the tendency to see an object as having only one typical use. A hammer is "for nails", and that fixed label controls our thinking. It is a kind of mental set that blocks solutions.
Example 1, Duncker's candle problem: participants had to fix candles to a wall using boxes filled with candles, tacks and matches. Only 43% solved it, because they saw the boxes only as containers. When the boxes were given empty, everyone solved it by tacking the boxes up as platforms.
Example 2, the coin problem (Simmel, 1953): find one lighter coin among eight using a balance only twice. Most people split eight into four and four, which fails. The answer is three, three and two: weigh three against three, then settle the remaining group with one more weighing.
Conclusion: When an object's obvious use hides its useful one, we are functionally fixed. Looking at objects in new ways opens the solution.
These five are 5 of 31. The other 26 answers, including the three Section C short-note sets and the full frequency grid, sit in the paid file.
3. MPC 001 Block and Unit Syllabus Table
MPC 001 has 4 blocks and 16 units: Information Processing, Intelligence and Creativity, Language, and Problem Solving, with four units in each. The unit titles below follow the official eGyanKosh MPC-001 course page, and the last column shows which guess paper questions cover each unit.
| Block | Unit title | Key exam topics | File questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block 1: Information Processing | Unit 1: Cognitive Psychology | Research methods, 12 domains, 7 key issues, history up to the 1950s revival | Q1, Q2, Q3, Q29(d) |
| Block 1: Information Processing | Unit 2: Information Processing in Learning and Memory | Huitt's four principles, Sternberg's three components, Bloom's taxonomy | Q4, Q5, Q29(a) |
| Block 1: Information Processing | Unit 3: Neuropsychological Basis of Learning and Memory | Consolidation, role of the hippocampus, Hebb's law, LTP, NMDA receptors | Q30(a), Q30(b) |
| Block 1: Information Processing | Unit 4: Models of Information Processing | Waugh and Norman, Craik and Lockhart, three storage systems | Q6, Q29(b), Q29(c) |
| Block 2: Intelligence and Creativity | Unit 1: Theories of Intelligence (G and S Factor and the Model of J.P. Das) | Tetrad difference, Thorndike, Thomson and Thurstone critiques, Luria's three units | Q7, Q8 |
| Block 2: Intelligence and Creativity | Unit 2: Multiple Theories of Intelligence (Guilford, Gardner and Sternberg) | 150-cell cube, nine intelligences, componential, experiential and contextual subtheories | Q9, Q10, Q11, Q31(d) |
| Block 2: Intelligence and Creativity | Unit 3: Measurement of Intelligence | Binet-Simon scale, mental age, Stanford-Binet, IQ formula, deviation IQ | Q17, Q30(d) |
| Block 2: Intelligence and Creativity | Unit 4: Creativity | Investment and confluence theory, Torrance's six aspects, Wallas's four stages, threshold hypothesis | Q12, Q15, Q18, Q30(c) |
| Block 3: Language | Unit 1: Language Acquisition | LAD, virtuous errors, Broca's and Wernicke's areas, the case of Jim | Q13 |
| Block 3: Language | Unit 2: Language Processing (Comprehension and Language Expression) | Speech acts, propositional content, thematic structure (Clark and Clark, 1977) | Q22 |
| Block 3: Language | Unit 3: Multilingualism and Cognition | Additive versus subtractive, single versus dual system, threshold effect, Bialystok's findings | Q19, Q20, Q21 |
| Block 3: Language | Unit 4: Language and Speech Disorders | Aphasia types, dyslexia, dyspraxia, apraxia, dysarthria, stuttering therapy | Q23, Q24, Q31(b), Q31(c) |
| Block 4: Problem Solving | Unit 1: Nature of Problem Solving | Problem space, well and ill-defined problems, Greeno's three types | Q25, Q31(a) |
| Block 4: Problem Solving | Unit 2: Stages of Problem Solving | Generate and test, backward search, planning, thinking aloud and protocols | Q16 |
| Block 4: Problem Solving | Unit 3: Theoretical Approaches to Problem Solving | Kohler's insight, General Problem Solver, means-end analysis, Wickelgren's seven strategies | Q14 |
| Block 4: Problem Solving | Unit 4: Impediments to Problem Solving | Perceptual, emotional, environmental and cultural blocks, Duncker's candle problem | Q26, Q27, Q28 |
If you are still working through the units themselves, start with the MPC 001 Study Material and come back to the guess paper in the last three weeks. The file is built for revision, so it assumes you have read each unit at least once.
4. MPC 001 Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme
The MPC 001 Term-End Examination is a 2-hour, 50-mark paper with three compulsory sections: attempt 2 of 4 long questions, 4 of 5 middle questions and 2 of 3 short notes.
| Section | Attempt | Marks | Word target | Questions in this file |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A (long answers) | 2 of 4 | 2 × 10 = 20 | About 450 words | 16 (Q1 to Q16) |
| B (middle answers) | 4 of 5 | 4 × 6 = 24 | About 250 words | 12 (Q17 to Q28) |
| C (short notes) | 2 of 3 | 2 × 3 = 6 | About 100 words | 3 sets of four notes (Q29 to Q31) |
Section B carries the most marks, yet students often treat it as filler after two long answers. Four solid 250-word answers are worth 24 marks, more than Section A. Plan your 2 hours as roughly 50 minutes for A, 55 for B and 15 for C.
5. MPC 001 Topic Frequency from Six Previous Papers
Four MPC 001 topics appeared in four of the last six papers: the Atkinson and Shiffrin storage systems, Chomsky versus Skinner, Alfred Binet and IQ, and the strategies of problem solving.
We read the December 2023, June 2024, December 2024, June 2025, December 2025 and June 2026 papers. You can check any of them yourself through our IGNOU Previous Year Question Paper collection. A High tag means a topic came 4 or more times, or came at least twice and then skipped June 2026, which usually means it is due.
| Topic | Sessions asked | Count | Priority | In the file |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storage systems / Atkinson and Shiffrin | Dec 2023, Jun 2025, Dec 2025, Jun 2026 | 4 | High | Q5 (Sample 1) |
| Chomsky's innateness vs behaviourist theory | Jun 2024, Jun 2025, Dec 2025, Jun 2026 | 4 | High | Q13 (Sample 3) |
| Alfred Binet and the concept of IQ | Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Dec 2025, Jun 2026 | 4 | High | Q17 (Sample 4) |
| Strategies and techniques of problem solving | Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Jun 2025, Jun 2026 | 4 | High | Q15, Q16 |
| Sternberg's triarchic theory | Jun 2024, Jun 2025, Dec 2025 | 3 | High (missed Jun 2026) | Q11 (Sample 2) |
| Approaches to problem solving | Jun 2024, Jun 2025, Dec 2025 | 3 | High (missed Jun 2026) | Q14 |
| Consolidation and cellular bases of memory | Jun 2024, Dec 2024, Jun 2025 | 3 | High (missed Jun 2026) | Q30(a), Q30(b) |
| Learning disability, dyspraxia, speech disorders | Jun 2024, Dec 2024, Jun 2025 | 3 | High (missed Jun 2026) | Q23, Q24 |
| Guilford's structure of intellect | Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Jun 2026 | 3 | Medium | Q9 |
| Domains of cognitive psychology | Jun 2024, Jun 2025, Jun 2026 | 3 | Medium | Q2 |
| PASS theory of intelligence | Dec 2023 | 1 | Low | Q8 |
| Spearman's two-factor theory | Jun 2024 | 1 | Low | Q7 |
6. MPC 001 Guess Paper File Index
MPC 001 is a theory course with no practical file of its own; the MAPC practical work sits in the separate MPCL-007 practicum handbook. This index lists every question inside the MPC 001 guess paper instead.
| No. | Question topic | Section and marks | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Meaning of cognitive psychology and research methods | A, 10 | High |
| Q2 | Domains and key issues of cognitive psychology | A, 10 | Medium |
| Q3 | Brief history of cognitive psychology | A, 10 | High |
| Q4 | Principles of information processing and Sternberg's approach | A, 10 | Low |
| Q5 | Atkinson and Shiffrin's stage model (Sample 1) | A, 10 | High |
| Q6 | Levels of processing, Craik and Lockhart | A, 10 | Medium |
| Q7 | Spearman's two-factor theory and its critics | A, 10 | Low |
| Q8 | PASS theory of intelligence | A, 10 | Low |
| Q9 | Guilford's structure-of-intellect theory | A, 10 | Medium |
| Q10 | Gardner's multiple intelligences | A, 10 | Medium |
| Q11 | Sternberg's triarchic theory (Sample 2) | A, 10 | High |
| Q12 | Creativity: investment and confluence theory | A, 10 | Medium |
| Q13 | Innateness vs behaviouristic theory of language (Sample 3) | A, 10 | High |
| Q14 | Approaches to problem solving | A, 10 | High |
| Q15 | Strategies of problem solving and factors affecting it | A, 10 | High |
| Q16 | Specific techniques of problem solving | A, 10 | High |
| Q17 | Alfred Binet and intelligence testing (Sample 4) | B, 6 | High |
| Q18 | Aspects and stages of creativity | B, 6 | Medium |
| Q19 | Structure of multilingualism | B, 6 | Medium |
| Q20 | Multilingualism and thinking | B, 6 | Medium |
| Q21 | Acquisition of a second language | B, 6 | High |
| Q22 | Clark and Clark's three elements of language expression | B, 6 | Low |
| Q23 | Speech disorders | B, 6 | High |
| Q24 | Learning disability and dyslexia | B, 6 | High |
| Q25 | Problem solving and types of problems | B, 6 | High |
| Q26 | Perceptual and emotional blocks | B, 6 | Medium |
| Q27 | Environmental and cultural blocks | B, 6 | Medium |
| Q28 | Functional fixedness (Sample 5) | B, 6 | High |
| Q29 | Short notes: Bloom's taxonomy, Waugh and Norman, storage systems, cognitive neuroscience | C, 2 × 3 | High |
| Q30 | Short notes: consolidation, cellular bases, creativity and intelligence, IQ | C, 2 × 3 | High |
| Q31 | Short notes: well and ill-defined problems, aphasia, dyspraxia, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence | C, 2 × 3 | High |
The file also opens with a one-page "what not to prepare" list. It names MPC 001 areas missing from all six papers, such as brain-imaging details of memory encoding, WAIS-IV and KABC-II subtests, Kintsch's comprehension model and team problem solving.
7. How to Use the Guess Paper Before the Exam
Learn the High-priority answers first, write two of them by hand under a timer, and keep the Low-priority answers for the last three days.
- Days 1 to 5: Block 1 and Block 2 High answers (Q1, Q3, Q5, Q11, Q17). Learn the names and years exactly: Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968), Craik and Lockhart (1972), Waugh and Norman (1965).
- Days 6 to 9: Block 3 and Block 4 High answers (Q13, Q14, Q15, Q16, Q21, Q23, Q24, Q25, Q28). Practise the candle problem and the coin problem aloud.
- Days 10 to 12: Medium answers and all three short-note sets. Draw the Atkinson and Shiffrin and Waugh and Norman diagrams from memory.
- Days 13 to 15: Low answers (Q4, Q7, Q8, Q22), then one full timed mock using any two Section A questions.
If you are preparing more than one course, the MAPC guess Paper files pair well with MPC 001, since MPC 002 also leans on theory names and years. Keep MPC 001 counts on one sheet: 12 domains, 7 key issues, 150 cells, 9 intelligences, 6 creativity resources and 4 properties of an algorithm.
8. Get the Full MPC 001 Guess Paper on WhatsApp
Message 9899436384 on WhatsApp with the code MPC 001, and we will share the price and send the complete 32-page solved file with all 31 answers.
You have seen 5 answers above. The remaining 26 include the Guilford cube, Gardner's nine intelligences, the levels of processing comparison table, both problem-solving block answers and every Section C short note. Order the MPC 001 Solved Guess Paper early so you have at least two weeks for revision before the December 2026 exam.
9. MPC 001 Cognitive Psychology, Learning and Memory FAQs
What is inside the MPC 001 guess paper with answers?
The MPC 001 file is a 32-page PDF with 31 solved questions for IGNOU Cognitive Psychology, Learning and Memory. It has 16 long answers for Section A, 12 middle answers for Section B and 3 sets of short notes for Section C. Each question shows its block, unit, priority and the sessions it last appeared in, and answers follow IGNOU word limits of about 450, 250 and 100 words.
How many questions are shown on this page and how many are in the file?
This page shows 5 of the 31 MPC 001 answers as open samples: Atkinson and Shiffrin, Sternberg's triarchic theory, Chomsky versus Skinner, Alfred Binet and functional fixedness. The other 26 answers, including all Section C short notes, the Guilford cube and the full frequency grid, are in the paid file you receive on WhatsApp after you message 9899436384 with the course code.
Which MPC 001 topics are most likely in the December 2026 exam?
In MPC 001, four topics came in four of the last six papers: Atkinson and Shiffrin's storage systems, Chomsky versus Skinner, Alfred Binet and IQ, and strategies of problem solving. Sternberg's triarchic theory, approaches to problem solving, memory consolidation and learning disability were asked three times but skipped June 2026, so they are strong candidates for December 2026 as well.
What is the MPC 001 exam pattern?
The MPC 001 Term-End Examination runs for 2 hours and carries 50 marks. Section A asks you to attempt 2 of 4 questions at 10 marks each in about 450 words. Section B asks 4 of 5 at 6 marks each in about 250 words. Section C asks 2 of 3 short notes at 3 marks each in about 100 words. All three sections are compulsory.
Are the MPC 001 answers written from the IGNOU textbook?
Yes. Every MPC 001 answer is written from the IGNOU MPC-001 self-learning material, using its headings, definitions, researchers and years. We simplify the language and add short bracket meanings for hard terms, but we do not add outside theories the examiner will not expect. Names such as Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) and Craik and Lockhart (1972) are kept exactly as the book gives them.
Does MPC 001 have a practical file?
No. MPC 001 is a theory course assessed through an assignment and the Term-End Examination, so it has no practical file of its own. Practical work for the IGNOU MA Psychology programme is done under the separate MPCL-007 practicum handbook on experimental psychology and psychological testing. That is why this page gives an index of all 31 guess paper questions instead of a practical index.
How do I get the full MPC 001 guess paper after checking the samples?
Send a WhatsApp message to 9899436384 with the course code MPC 001 and your exam session. Our team replies with the price and payment options, and once payment is confirmed the complete 32-page PDF is shared on the same chat. If you also need other MA Psychology courses, mention the codes in the same message so they can be sent together.
Is the MPC 001 guess paper enough to pass the exam?
For most students the MPC 001 guess paper covers enough ground to pass, because its 31 questions span all 4 blocks and 16 units and track six recent papers. No guess paper can promise the exact questions, though. Read each unit once, learn the High-priority answers thoroughly, and practise at least one timed Section A answer before the exam.
10. Who Prepared the MPC 001 Answers
The MPC 001 answers were written by the Unnati Educations IGNOU team under Prateek Talwar and checked line by line against the IGNOU textbook by Sheetal Kirola.
Prateek Talwar leads the past-paper analysis and answer structure; Sheetal Kirola, Academic Head (M.Ed.), checks every name, year and count against the MPC-001 self-learning material. Unnati Educations, based in Vikaspuri, Delhi, has been preparing study material for IGNOU, NIOS, MDU and GGSIPU students. For this file, the team corrected spellings the internet often gets wrong, such as Naglieri in the PASS theory.
Students across the IGNOU Master of Arts in Psychology (MAPC) programme use our files for MPC 001 as well as the other first-year courses, so the answer style stays the same from paper to paper. That consistency helps when you revise four courses in one term.