Your brain, not the syllabus, is your biggest enemy in the exam hall.
UPSC is designed to test thinking under pressure. Even well-prepared aspirants lose marks because of psychological traps — not lack of knowledge. These traps are called cognitive biases.
Statements with **always, never, only, completely, entirely** feel wrong. UPSC knows this — and sometimes makes such statements true to trap you.
If a statement contains a familiar keyword, aspirants tend to assume it is correct even if the context is wrong.
Longer options appear more accurate. But UPSC often hides false information inside long sentences.
Aspirants think they “know this one” and mark answers impulsively. This leads to overconfidence errors.
Some aspirants skip questions even after eliminating 2 options due to fear of negative marking.
When 5–6 questions go wrong in a row, panic sets in and reasoning breaks down.
Aspirants choose the statement that “matches their belief” rather than the correct fact.
Recently studied topics feel more important. UPSC uses this illusion to mislead aspirants.
A single scary word like “pollution”, “extinction”, or “constitutional crisis” pushes aspirants to choose incorrect negative options.
Aspirants copy strategies of toppers without understanding their skill level or elimination accuracy.
Clearing UPSC is more about improving your thinking accuracy than memorizing facts. Once you eliminate these biases, your score increases by 20–40 marks instantly.