Unit IV of the CBSE Class 12 Psychology paper carries 12 marks out of 70, making it the third-largest unit. The four Ds, the two classification systems and the diathesis-stress model are reliable short answers; schizophrenia, the anxiety group and the neurodevelopmental disorders carry the long ones.
What is inside
- Chapter at a glance — a one-page mind map covering all nine syllabus topics
- Complete topic-by-topic notes, NCERT-aligned, in CBSE’s own topic order
- The four Ds of abnormality — deviance, distress, dysfunction and danger — defined and separated, alongside deviation from social norms and maladaptive behaviour
- Historical background: the supernatural view, Hippocrates and the humours, and the reform movement under Pinel and Dorothea Dix
- DSM-5 and ICD-10 compared, and why classification matters at all
- All four psychological models — psychodynamic, behavioural, cognitive and humanistic — plus the biological and socio-cultural factors and the diathesis-stress model
- Every disorder group CBSE lists, each in its own table: generalised anxiety, panic, phobias and separation anxiety; obsessive-compulsive and related; trauma- and stressor-related including PTSD; somatic symptom and dissociative; depressive and bipolar; schizophrenia; neurodevelopmental (ADHD, autism spectrum, specific learning disorder); oppositional defiant and conduct disorder; feeding, eating and substance-related disorders
- Schizophrenia in full — positive, negative and psychomotor symptoms, with the types of delusions and hallucinations named individually
- A 63-term glossary of every definition the paper can ask for
- 14 board-pattern questions with full model answers, written the way they should be written in the exam
- A revision tracker to tick off each topic as read, practised and revised
Written for the 2026-27 syllabus
Every topic in this file is on CBSE’s list for Chapter 4. Nothing more has been added to pad the page count. Psychology and Life and Developing Psychological Skills are not covered anywhere in these notes, because CBSE has removed both from the syllabus — you will not spend a minute on material the paper cannot ask.
Details
- Format: PDF, A4 — works on a phone and prints cleanly
- Length: 24 pages plus cover
- Delivery: instant download link after payment, plus a copy by email
- Free updates: if CBSE changes the syllabus or a correction goes in, the updated file is sent to you at no cost. You never pay twice for the same chapter.
These notes cover the disorders as the CBSE syllabus defines them, for exam purposes. They are study material, not clinical or diagnostic advice.
By Aditi Ojha (Savvy Ma’am) — Founder and educator, The Savvy Humanities. Teaching Humanities on YouTube since 2023. These notes pair with the free chapter video; QR codes inside the file link to it.
