BPCC 106 June 2026 solved paper: key facts
- Course code: BPCC 106
- Course title: Development of Psychological Thought
- Programme: Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Psychology (BAPCH); also offered in BAFPC
- Credits: 6 (4 theory + 2 tutorial)
- Blocks and units: 5 blocks, 13 units
- Maximum marks: 50 (term-end exam)
- Duration: 2 hours
- Questions in the June 2026 paper: 8 (attempt any 5, at least 2 from each section, 10 marks each)
- Sample answers shown on this page: 2 (Q1 and Q2)
- Answers in the full paid file: All 8 questions (6 of them not shown on this page)
What the BPCC 106 Solved Question Paper June 2026 covers
BPCC 106 Solved Question Paper June 2026 is our answer file for BPCC 106 Development of Psychological Thought, the 6-credit core course of IGNOU's Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Psychology (BAPCH) that traces psychology from Fechner's psychophysics to today's indigenous psychology.
The June 2026 paper has eight questions split into Section A and Section B. You attempt any five, at least two from each section, in about 300 words each for 10 marks apiece. That makes the BPCC 106 Question Paper a test of steady essay writing on thinkers, schools and debates rather than one-line recall.
This page shows two answers in full, Q1 on Gustav Fechner and Q2 on Tolman and Skinner, so you can judge the depth before you ask for the file. The other six questions appear as printed text only. Every answer is tied to the BPCC 106 Study Material, so you can open the matching unit straight after reading it.
Seven preview pages from the solved PDF are shown below: the cover, the question index, the two sample answers, one page from each section and the closing contact page.
BPCC 106 sample answers: Fechner (Q1) and Tolman and Skinner (Q2)
Two Section A questions from the June 2026 BPCC 106 paper are answered in full below, in the same 300-word structure used across the whole file.
Question text is reproduced exactly as IGNOU printed it, including the paper's own spelling, with the original question numbers.
Q1 Section A 10 marks
Q1. Discuss the contribution of Fechner in the emergence of psychology as a scientific discipline. (10 marks)
Section A | Unit 2: Contributions to Early Modern Psychology
Introduction: Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801-1887), a German physicist and philosopher at Leipzig, is known as the founder of psychophysics. Before him, many thinkers followed Immanuel Kant in holding that the mind could not be measured, so psychology could never be an experimental science. Fechner's work challenged that view directly.
The insight of 1850: On 22 October 1850, Fechner realised that the relation between bodily energy and mental intensity could be studied mathematically. He set out to measure how the strength of a sensation changes with the physical intensity of a stimulus. Psychologists still mark 22 October as Fechner Day.
Building on Weber: Fechner developed the work of Ernst Heinrich Weber, who had shown that the just noticeable difference (JND) between two stimuli is a constant fraction of the original stimulus (ΞI/I = k). Treating each JND as an equal unit of sensation, Fechner derived his law, S = k log R: sensation grows arithmetically while the stimulus grows geometrically.
Methods of psychophysics: In Elemente der Psychophysik (1860), he set out three methods still taught today: the method of limits (just noticeable differences), the method of constant stimuli (right and wrong cases) and the method of adjustment (average error). These gave psychology standard procedures for finding the absolute threshold and the difference threshold.
Why it mattered: Fechner showed that mental events can be quantified with lawful precision. Wundt used psychophysical methods in the laboratory he opened at Leipzig in 1879, and Hermann Ebbinghaus was inspired by Elemente der Psychophysik to measure memory experimentally. Modern research on perception, sensory testing and signal detection grows from the same root.
Limitations: The logarithmic law does not hold across all intensities, and S. S. Stevens later proposed a power law based on direct magnitude estimation. Critics also questioned whether JNDs are truly equal units. Fechner's own motive was philosophical, a belief in the identity of mind and body, which many later psychologists did not share.
Conclusion: Despite these limits, Fechner gave psychology its first measurement methods and proved that the link between body and mind could be studied in the laboratory. That is why he stands with Helmholtz and Wundt among the people who turned psychology into a scientific discipline.
Q2 Section A 10 marks
Q2. Delineate the contributions of Tolman and Skinner as neo-behaviorists. (10 marks)
Section A | Unit 9: Neo-Behaviourism
Introduction: Neo-behaviourism developed between the 1930s and the 1950s, when behaviourists adopted logical positivism and operationism, the idea that every concept must be defined by the operations used to measure it. Edward C. Tolman and B. F. Skinner both worked within this framework, yet they took behaviourism in very different directions.
Tolman's purposive behaviourism: Edward Chace Tolman (1886-1959) set out his system in Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men (1932). He studied molar behaviour, whole goal-directed acts such as a rat running to food, rather than Watson's molecular muscle movements. For Tolman, behaviour is purposive and cognitive even in animals.
Tolman's key ideas: He introduced intervening variables, such as expectancy and demand, which link stimulus and response and can be defined operationally. In the latent learning study by Tolman and Honzik (1930), rats given no food for the first ten days still learned the maze and performed well once reward appeared. His 1948 paper on cognitive maps argued that rats learn a mental map of the maze, not a chain of responses.
Skinner's radical behaviourism: Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990) rejected inner constructs and argued for a purely descriptive, functional analysis of behaviour. In The Behavior of Organisms (1938), he separated respondent behaviour, elicited by stimuli as in Pavlov's work, from operant behaviour, which the organism emits and which is controlled by its consequences.
Skinner's key ideas: Using the operant chamber, or Skinner box, he studied positive and negative reinforcement, punishment, extinction and shaping through successive approximations. With C. B. Ferster he described schedules of reinforcement (fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval and variable interval) in 1957. He applied these principles to programmed instruction, teaching machines, behaviour modification and, in Verbal Behavior (1957), to language.
Comparison: Tolman widened behaviourism to include purpose and cognition and so prepared the ground for cognitive psychology. Skinner narrowed it to observable behaviour and its consequences, producing techniques still used in classrooms, therapy and token economies.
Conclusion: Together they show the range of neo-behaviourism. Tolman proved that learning can occur without immediate reinforcement, while Skinner showed how reinforcement shapes behaviour with precision. Both kept psychology objective and experimental, which is why IGNOU pairs them in a single 10-mark question.
Questions answered only in the full file
These six questions are answered only inside the paid PDF. They are listed here as printed in the June 2026 paper.
- Q3 (Section A). Discuss Adlerβs individual psychology. (10 marks)
- Q4 (Section A). Elucidate the interrelatedness of the individual and society from an ecological perspective. (10 marks)
- Q5 (Section B). Discuss the significance of cultural, cross-cultural and indigenous psychology. (10 marks)
- Q6 (Section B). Describe Ebbinghaus and Thorndikeβs approach to studying behaviour. (10 marks)
- Q7 (Section B). Describe Maslowβs Hierarchy of Needs. (10 marks)
- Q8 (Section B). Delineate the basic principles of Gestalt psychology. (10 marks)
Between them they cover Adler, the ecological view of the individual, indigenous psychology, the two pioneers of associationism, Maslow and the Gestalt school. Three of these themes have been asked before, so the full file doubles as revision for December 2026.
Development of Psychological Thought syllabus: 5 blocks and 13 units
BPCC 106 Development of Psychological Thought is taught through 5 blocks and 13 units, moving from philosophy and early laboratories to modern trends and debates.
| Block | Unit | Topics IGNOU has examined |
|---|---|---|
| Block 1: Psychological Perspectives | Unit 1: Historical and Philosophical Context | Descartes' dualism, Spinoza's double aspectism, the British empiricists |
| Block 1: Psychological Perspectives | Unit 2: Contributions to Early Modern Psychology | Helmholtz on perception, Fechner's psychophysics, Wundt and William James |
| Block 2: Early Psychology | Unit 3: Associationism | Ebbinghaus and nonsense syllables, Thorndike's puzzle box and law of effect |
| Block 2: Early Psychology | Unit 4: Structuralism | Wundt and Titchener, introspection, mediate and immediate experience |
| Block 2: Early Psychology | Unit 5: Functionalism | William James, the Chicago school, contribution and criticism of functionalism |
| Block 3: The Psychodynamic Approach | Unit 6: Psychoanalysis | Levels of consciousness, Freud's instincts, critical evaluation of psychoanalysis |
| Block 3: The Psychodynamic Approach | Unit 7: Neo-Freudians | Adler's individual psychology, Jung's analytical psychology |
| Block 4: The Behavioural and Humanistic Perspectives | Unit 8: Behaviourism | Watson's views on instincts and emotions, criticisms of Watsonian behaviourism |
| Block 4: The Behavioural and Humanistic Perspectives | Unit 9: Neo-Behaviourism | Logical positivism and operationism, Hull, Tolman and Skinner |
| Block 4: The Behavioural and Humanistic Perspectives | Unit 10: Gestalt Psychology | Gestalt principles, isomorphism, Lewin's field theory and the Zeigarnik effect |
| Block 4: The Behavioural and Humanistic Perspectives | Unit 11: Humanistic-Existential Psychology (Third-Force Movement) | Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Frankl's will to meaning, Rollo May |
| Block 5: Trends and Debates in Modern Psychology | Unit 12: Current Trends in Psychology | Cognitive psychology (Miller, Neisser), social constructionism (Gergen), indigenous psychology |
| Block 5: Trends and Debates in Modern Psychology | Unit 13: Issues and Debates in Psychology | Mind-body problem, nature-nurture, free will versus determinism, individual and society |
Unit titles follow the official course listing. The unit PDFs are published on eGyanKosh, and Unit 2 on eGyanKosh is the source chapter for the Fechner answer above.
Notice how unevenly the June 2026 paper drew on this list. Blocks 4 and 5 supplied five of the eight questions, while Block 3 contributed only Adler and Block 1 only Fechner.
BPCC 106 Question Paper pattern and marks split
The June 2026 BPCC 106 Question Paper carries 50 marks in 2 hours: eight 10-mark essays, of which you attempt five with at least two from each section.
| Part | What it contains | Rule or marks |
|---|---|---|
| Section A | Q1 to Q4: Fechner, Tolman and Skinner, Adler, ecological view of individual and society | Attempt at least 2 |
| Section B | Q5 to Q8: cultural and indigenous psychology, Ebbinghaus and Thorndike, Maslow, Gestalt | Attempt at least 2 |
| Total to attempt | Any 5 of the 8 questions | 5 x 10 = 50 marks |
| Answer length | About 300 words per answer, as printed in the paper's note | About 24 minutes per answer |
| Question format in June 2026 | Single 10-mark essays only, no short notes and no split marks | Different from December 2025 (3+7, 4+6, short notes) |
| Weight in final result | Term-end exam 70%, assignments 20%, tutorial 10% (July 2025 TMA booklet) | Exam is the biggest share |
The IGNOU BPCC 106 Question Paper format shifts between sessions. December 2025 used 3+7 and 4+6 splits and short notes on Descartes and Spinoza, while June 2026 returned to plain essays. Comparing it with any other BAPCH Question Paper shows the same section-wise choice rule across the programme.
Topics IGNOU keeps repeating in BPCC 106
Freud's psychoanalysis and the philosophical roots of psychology each appeared in 6 of 7 earlier BPCC 106 papers, yet neither was asked in June 2026.
We counted topics across seven official papers from IGNOU's own websites: December 2021, December 2022, June 2023, December 2023, June 2024, December 2024 and December 2025. The June 2022 and June 2025 papers could not be found there, so they are not counted.
| Topic | Sessions asked | Times (of 7) | June 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freud and psychoanalysis | Dec 2021, Dec 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Dec 2025 | 6 | Not asked |
| Philosophical context, dualism and the British empiricists | Dec 2021, Dec 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Jun 2024, Dec 2025 | 6 | Not asked |
| Gestalt psychology and Lewin's field theory | Dec 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Jun 2024, Dec 2025 | 5 | Q8 |
| Neo-behaviourism (Hull, logical positivism, neo-behaviourists) | Dec 2021, Dec 2022, Dec 2024, Dec 2025 | 4 | Q2 |
| Third-force movement: humanistic and existential psychology | Dec 2022, Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Dec 2025 | 4 | Q7 |
| Debates: mind-body, nature-nurture, free will, individual and society | Dec 2021, Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Jun 2024 | 4 | Q4 |
| Wundt, introspection and structuralism | Dec 2021, Jun 2024, Dec 2024, Dec 2025 | 4 | Not asked |
| Watsonian behaviourism | Dec 2022, Jun 2023, Jun 2024 | 3 | Not asked |
| Functionalism and the Chicago school | Dec 2021, Dec 2023, Dec 2024 | 3 | Not asked |
| Social constructionism and Gergen | Dec 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2025 | 3 | Not asked |
| Neo-Freudians: Adler and Jung | Jun 2024, Dec 2024, Dec 2025 | 3 | Q3 |
| Associationism: Ebbinghaus and Thorndike | Jun 2023, Dec 2024 | 2 | Q6 |
| Non-western and indigenous traditions | Dec 2022, Jun 2023 | 2 | Q5 |
| Feminist movement in psychology | Dec 2023, Dec 2024 | 2 | Not asked |
| Cognitive psychology (Miller, Neisser) | Dec 2021, Jun 2024 | 2 | Not asked |
| Early experimental psychology: Helmholtz and Fechner | Jun 2024 | 1 | Q1 |
Two patterns stand out. The June 2026 Gestalt question repeats June 2024 Q3 almost word for word, and Adler has now been asked in three sessions running. Ebbinghaus and Thorndike were paired in June 2023 too.
You can check every original paper on our IGNOU Previous Year Question Paper page and match it against this table yourself.
BPCC 106 solved file index: all 8 questions mapped to units
Q1 and Q2 are solved on this page; Q3 to Q8 are answered only in the full BPCC 106 file, and each is mapped to the unit it comes from.
| Q. | Section | Question topic | Course unit | Where to read it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | A | Fechner and psychology as a science | Unit 2: Contributions to Early Modern Psychology | On this page |
| Q2 | A | Tolman and Skinner as neo-behaviourists | Unit 9: Neo-Behaviourism | On this page |
| Q3 | A | Adler's individual psychology | Unit 7: Neo-Freudians | Full file only |
| Q4 | A | Individual and society, ecological perspective | Unit 13: Issues and Debates in Psychology | Full file only |
| Q5 | B | Cultural, cross-cultural and indigenous psychology | Unit 12: Current Trends in Psychology | Full file only |
| Q6 | B | Ebbinghaus and Thorndike | Unit 3: Associationism | Full file only |
| Q7 | B | Maslow's hierarchy of needs | Unit 11: Humanistic-Existential Psychology | Full file only |
| Q8 | B | Basic principles of Gestalt psychology | Unit 10: Gestalt Psychology | Full file only |
Units 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 have no question in June 2026. Those units cover the philosophical context, structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis and Watson, all frequent in earlier papers.
How the Development of Psychological Thought answers are written and checked
Every Development of Psychological Thought answer is written by Prateek Talwar against the eGyanKosh unit and reviewed by Sheetal Kirola before the file is released.
Each answer opens with a short introduction, moves through headed points and closes with a two-line conclusion, because that is how a 10-mark, 300-word essay earns full credit. Names, dates and book titles are checked, so you will not mix up Tolman's 1932 book with Skinner's 1938 one.
Where a question names two thinkers, as Q2 and Q6 do, the answer gives each a balanced share and ends with a comparison. Where a question repeats an older one, as Q8 does, we use the earlier examiner focus to decide what goes first.
Want topic-wise practice beyond this one session? Our IGNOU Important Questions collection groups likely questions course by course.
Programmes that study BPCC 106 Development of Psychological Thought
BPCC 106 Development of Psychological Thought is a core course of IGNOU's BA (Honours) Psychology and also appears in the four-year BAFPC programme.
In the IGNOU Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Psychology programme (BAPCH), BPCC 106 carries 6 credits, 4 for theory and 2 for the tutorial. IGNOU's July 2025 assignment booklet lists the course for both BAPCH and BAFPC, the Bachelor of Arts four-year undergraduate programme in Psychology.
The course is the history spine of the psychology degree, so the thinkers in this paper, from Fechner to Maslow, keep returning in later papers on learning, personality and research methods.
Getting the full BPCC 106 Solved Question Paper on WhatsApp
Message WhatsApp 9899436384 with the code BPCC 106 and June 2026 to receive the PDF with all 8 answers, including the 6 not shown on this page.
Our team replies with the price and delivery details, and the IGNOU BPCC 106 Solved Question Paper arrives on WhatsApp itself. Inside you get Q1 to Q8 in order, each in the 300-word exam format, plus the question index you saw in the preview images.
Five strong answers are all you need on exam day, so start with Q3 Adler, Q7 Maslow and Q8 Gestalt, the three themes IGNOU has tested before, and then add one more from each section.
BPCC 106 FAQs
These answers cover the questions BAPCH students most often ask before buying the BPCC 106 June 2026 file.
What is in the BPCC 106 Solved Question Paper June 2026?
It contains complete answers to all 8 questions of the IGNOU June 2026 BPCC 106 term-end paper, from Fechner and neo-behaviourism in Section A to Maslow and the Gestalt principles in Section B. Each answer is written to the 300-word length the paper asks for, with an introduction, headed points, names and dates, and a short conclusion that suits a 10-mark question.
How do I get the full BPCC 106 file on WhatsApp?
Send a message to WhatsApp 9899436384 with the course code BPCC 106 and the session June 2026, and our team will reply with the price and delivery details. The PDF holds 8 complete answers: the 2 shown on this page (Q1 and Q2) and the 6 listed here as question text only (Q3 to Q8). Delivery happens on WhatsApp itself, so you can start revising the same day.
How many questions must I attempt in the BPCC 106 Development of Psychological Thought exam?
You attempt any five of the eight questions, choosing at least two from Section A and at least two from Section B. Every question carries 10 marks, so the paper totals 50 marks in 2 hours. That leaves about 24 minutes per answer, which is why practising 300-word answers on likely BPCC 106 topics before the exam makes such a difference to your score.
Which BPCC 106 topics repeat most often in IGNOU papers?
Freud and psychoanalysis appeared in 6 of the 7 earlier papers we checked, from December 2021 to December 2025, and so did the philosophical context of psychology, including dualism and the British empiricists. Gestalt psychology and Lewin's field theory appeared 5 times. Adler has now been asked in three sessions running, December 2024, December 2025 and June 2026, so the neo-Freudians deserve careful revision.
Did the BPCC 106 June 2026 paper have short notes or split questions?
No. Every question in the June 2026 BPCC 106 paper is a single 10-mark essay, with no short notes and no part-marked splits. December 2025, by contrast, had 3+7 and 4+6 questions plus short notes on Descartes and Spinoza. So while you study from the June 2026 file, also practise split and short-note formats from older papers in case the pattern swings back.
Which units of BPCC 106 Development of Psychological Thought were not tested in June 2026?
Units 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 had no question in June 2026, so the philosophical context, structuralism, functionalism, Freud's psychoanalysis and Watson's behaviourism were all left out. These are among the most frequently asked BPCC 106 topics in earlier papers, which makes them strong candidates for December 2026. Revise them alongside the June 2026 answers rather than skipping them.
Who writes and checks the BPCC 106 answers?
The answers are written by Prateek Talwar for Unnati Educations and reviewed by Sheetal Kirola before release. Each answer is matched to the relevant eGyanKosh unit of BPCC 106, and names, dates and book titles, such as Fechner's Elemente der Psychophysik of 1860 and Tolman's Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men of 1932, are checked against standard sources so you do not lose marks on facts.
Can I use the BPCC 106 solved paper for the December 2026 exam?
Yes. IGNOU reuses BPCC 106 themes heavily: the Gestalt principles question in June 2026 is almost the same as June 2024 Q3, and Ebbinghaus and Thorndike were also paired in June 2023. Studying these answers alongside the repeat-topic table above gives you ready material for several likely December 2026 questions, though new wording will always need some adjustment on the day.