Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, extra MCQs, PDF for chapter 10 Habits: NBSE Class 12 Education, which is part of the syllabus for students studying under NBSE (Nagaland Board). These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
Summary
A habit is a behavior we do so often that it becomes automatic. It is something we learn through practice, not something we are born with. Any action, from eating to thinking, can become a habit if it is repeated enough. One writer, William James, called habit “man’s second nature.” This means our habits become such a normal part of our lives that they feel as natural as our own instincts. When an action is repeated many times in the same way, we no longer need to pay close attention to it, and a habit is formed.
Habits are created through a three-step loop: reminder, routine, and reward. The reminder is the trigger that starts the behavior. The routine is the action itself. The reward is the benefit we get from the action, which makes us want to do it again. Habits have several characteristics. They bring uniformity to our lives, as we perform them the same way every time. They make tasks feel easier and require less mental effort and attention. This also means we feel less tired when doing them. However, once formed, habits are very resistant to change.
Habits can be either good or bad. Good habits are useful for us and society. They help our lives run smoothly, save us time, and give us a feeling of stability. They help in learning and can lead to great achievements. Bad habits are harmful. They can make us feel like we have no control, prevent us from being creative, and make it hard to adapt to new situations. There are many kinds of bad habits, such as those that hurt our health, waste our time, or affect our relationships with others.
Breaking a bad habit requires a plan. It starts with a strong determination and willpower to change. One effective method is to substitute the bad habit with a good one. For example, a person who wants to stop smoking could chew gum when they feel the urge. Another way is to find the root cause of the habit. Some nervous habits are caused by stress, so managing the stress can help stop the habit. It is also possible to correct a bad habit by consciously practicing the right way of doing things until it becomes the new habit.
Textual
Very Short Answer Questions
1. What is meant by habit?
Answer: Any regularly occurring behaviour that requires little or no thought and is learned rather than innate is called a habit. A habit can be part of any activity, ranging from eating and sleeping to thinking and reacting, and is developed through reinforcement and repetition. It is the result of the practice of one’s own individual likes.
2. What is meant by bad habit?
Answer: A bad habit is a negative behaviour pattern. They are repetitive and negative behaviour patterns that can be stopped with motivation and willpower. Society takes a dim view of them, and such habits can break customs, laws, or mores. Many people find the habit annoying, repulsive, or something to be avoided. A bad habit could negatively affect your health or wellness and keep someone from being their best.
3. Mention the 3R’s of habit formation.
Answer: The 3R’s of habit formation are:
- Reminder: The cue or trigger that starts the habit.
- Routine: The action you take, which is the habit itself.
- Reward: The benefit you gain from doing the habit.
4. Mention one advantage of habit formation.
Answer: One advantage of habit formation is that habits help us in smooth functioning.
5. Mention one disadvantage of habit formation.
Answer: One disadvantage of habit formation is that there is a danger of becoming slaves of our habits.
Short Answer Questions
List two main advantages of habit formation.
Answer: Two main advantages of habit formation are:
- Habits help us in smooth functioning.
- Habitual actions cost us little effortual actions cost us little effort and less strain.
2. Explain habit formation.
Answer: Habit formation is closely intertwined with goal pursuit, as everyday habits develop when people pursue their life’s goals. The basic mechanism underlying habits is that behaviour becomes less responsive to current goals and planning as habit associations strengthen. Habits develop through instrumental learning and are built on the principle that rewarded responses are repeated. When a goal is pursued repeatedly, people experience co-variations between context cues and actions that lead to goal attainment. The learning of these context-response associations is an unintended consequence of this repetition.
The process of habit formation can be understood through the 3 R’s:
- Reminder: The cue or trigger that starts the habit.
- Routine: The action you take, which is the habit itself.
- Reward: The benefit you gain from doing the habit.
3. Mention the characteristics of habit.
Answer: The characteristics of habit are:
- Uniformity: Habit brings uniformity in the activities of an individual. They are performed every time in the same way. There is a specific habit in our mode of talking, sleeping, walking, and other activities.
- Ease and Facility: There is a facility in the performance of an activity if it is due to some habit. In the beginning, one may feel difficulty in performing some task but after the formation of habit, it becomes quite easy. For example, in the beginning it is difficult to ride a bicycle but after the formation of habit, it becomes quite easy.
- Interest: The basis of habit is interest. At the beginning of schooling, the child runs away from the school, but after the formation of habit, going to school becomes interesting to him/her.
- Reducing the need of Paying Attention: Habitual acts are performed with least or no attention. Women do knitting almost paying no attention to the work. Similarly a person playing a harmonium or violin places his fingers on the required string with no careful attention on his part.
- Diminishing Fatigue: Habit diminishes fatigue due to habit formation. The work that is too difficult and tiresome in the beginning becomes a simple and spontaneous engagement for hours. The fact can be easily verified when we observe a bus driver driving on a long route for hours. Actually with the habit of driving, he learns to make the fewest and simplest movements and thus does not become the victim of fatigue easily.
- Resistance to Modification: Habitual actions possess a strong tendency of resisting any modification or change. Once a habit, good or bad, is formed, it is difficult to give it up or bring changes in its functioning. A habitual smoker or gambler finds it difficult to give up his habit of smoking or gambling. On the other hand, a man who is not accustomed to accepting bribe cannot accept bribe and thus change his habit.
- Habits are Useful as well as Harmful: In general habits are divided into two groups – good habits and bad habits. Good habits are like truth and punctuality, proper habits of works etc. are considered useful for the welfare of the individual as well as the society whereas bad habits like smoking, gambling, telling lies etc. are considered harmful to both the individual and the society.
4. List five bad habits you observe in yourself.
Answer: Five bad habits I observe in myself are:
- Staying up late
- Spending too much time online
- Multi-tasking
- Poor posture
- Watching an endless stream of YouTube videos
5. List four points helpful to obtain desirable habit.
Answer: Four points helpful to obtain a desirable habit can be understood from the principles of habit formation and breaking bad habits:
- Firm Determination and Strong Will Power: To form a new desirable habit, one should have a firm determination to start and strong willpower to stick to the new routine consistently.
- Strong Initiative with Quick Actions: One should take a strong initiative to begin the new habit and follow through with actions immediately and regularly.
- Use of Voluntary Practice: Desirable habits can be formed by voluntarily and repeatedly practising the desired action until it becomes automatic.
- Substitute Bad Habits: A convenient approach is to replace bad habits with socially desirable ones, which gradually causes the bad habits to die their natural death.
Long Answer Questions
1. What do you understand by habit formation? Explain the 3R’s involved in habit formation.
Answer: Habit formation is closely intertwined with goal pursuit, as everyday habits develop when people pursue their life’s goals. An implication of the basic context-response mechanism underlying habits is that behaviour becomes less responsive to current goals and planning as habit associations strengthen. Habits develop through instrumental learning and build on the fundamental principle that rewarded responses are repeated. When repeatedly pursuing a goal, people experience co-variations between context cues and actions that lead to goal attainment. Daily life is full of such repetition. Research shows that about 43% of actions are performed almost daily and usually in the same context. The learning of context-response associations is an unintended consequence of this repetition.
The 3 R’s involved in habit formation are Reminder, Routine, and Reward.
- Reminder: This is the cue or trigger that starts the habit. An example is a traffic light turning green.
- Routine: This is the action you take, which is the habit itself. An example is also a traffic light turning green, which prompts the action of driving.
- Reward: This is the benefit you gain from doing the habit. For example, you get closer to your destination.
If the reward is positive, you will have a desire to repeat the action the next time a reminder appears. Eventually, this repetition will form a new habit.
2. Mention the advantages and disadvantages of habit formation.
Answer: Good habits are essential for effective and smooth living. Such actions need little effort and conscious thinking. The advantages of habit formation are:
- Habits help us in smooth functioning.
- Habitual actions cost us little effort and less strain.
- Habits do not require our conscious attention.
- Habitual actions save our time.
- Habits make our movements simpler, quicker, and more accurate.
- Our activities do not become tiresome (no fatigue).
- Since the activities become automatic, we do not need our higher mental processes like thinking, reasoning, creativity, etc. for these activities and such abilities can be used for other better activities.
- Good habits provide feelings of stability and security.
Habits are so strong that they control one’s life. When one becomes a slave of his habits, he loses the power to adapt to new situations. The disadvantages of habit formation are:
- There is danger of becoming slaves of our habits.
- There will not be any scope for thinking or creativity.
- We cannot learn new things or to adapt to new situations.
- Our actions become mechanical.
- Habits interfere in our other activities.
- We feel highly disturbed when we have to make any adjustment or change in our routine like eating, sleeping, etc.
- There may be negative effects both physical and psychological. For example, if there is any change in the timing of sleep, food, etc. we feel highly disturbed both physically and mentally such as sleeplessness, indigestion, nausea, mood upset, etc.
3. Explain the nature of habit on the basis of its characteristics.
Answer: The nature of habits can be understood through the following characteristics:
- Uniformity: Habit brings uniformity in the activities of an individual. They are performed every time in the same way. There is a specific habit in our mode of talking, sleeping, walking, and other activities.
- Ease and Facility: There is a facility in the performance of an activity if it is due to some habit. In the beginning, one may feel difficulty in performing some task but after the formation of habit, it becomes quite easy. For example, in the beginning it is difficult to ride a bicycle but after the formation of habit, it becomes quite easy.
- Interest: The basis of habit is interest. At the beginning of schooling, the child runs away from the school, but after the formation of habit, going to school becomes interesting to him/her.
- Reducing the need of Paying Attention: Habitual acts are performed with least or no attention. For example, women do knitting almost paying no attention to the work.
- Diminishing Fatigue: Habit diminishes fatigue due to habit formation. The work that is too difficult and tiresome in the beginning becomes a simple and spontaneous engagement for hours. For example, a bus driver driving on a long route for hours learns to make the fewest and simplest movements and thus does not become the victim of fatigue easily.
- Resistance to Modification: Habitual actions possess a strong tendency of resisting any modification or change. Once a habit, good or bad, is formed, it is difficult to give it up or bring changes in its functioning. A habitual smoker or gambler finds it difficult to give up his habit.
- Habits are Useful as well as Harmful: In general habits are divided into two groups – good habits and bad habits. Good habits like truth and punctuality are considered useful for the welfare of the individual and society, whereas bad habits like smoking, gambling, and telling lies are considered harmful to both.
4. List five bad habits which is time consuming for students.
Answer: Five bad habits which are time consuming for students are:
- Spending too much time online
- Video games
- Watching an endless stream of YouTube videos
- Facebook addiction
- Watching reality television
5. List the bad habits for school students.
Answer: Some bad habits for school students include:
- Being more than five minutes late for an appointment
- Poor posture
- Not getting enough sleep
- Multi-tasking
- Not having a work routine
- Staying up late
- Spending too much time online
- Finishing other people’s sentences
- Being argumentative
6. Mention the four points for breaking of bad habits.
Answer: Four points that can be found fruitful in breaking bad habits are:
- Firm Determination and Strong Will Power: First of all, one should realise the necessity of setting oneself free from the clutches of a bad habit. Moreover, one should have a firm determination to break it. Thus there is a need for strong willpower so that the temptations are never allowed as even a single act of the repetition of a bad habit may throw the individual back on the starting point.
- Strong Initiative with Quick Actions: Bad habits are like a powerful and dangerous enemy. Therefore, the initial attack should be well planned. One should leave nothing to chance. Public declarations and pledges help much in this direction as they give sufficient emotional strength to an individual. One who declares publicly that one would not smoke from such and such date, receives an inner strength to give up his bad habit, but mere declaration and resolution do not suffice. They should be followed by actions.
- Use of Voluntary Practice: Many improper habitual actions can be rectified by the use of voluntary practices. Incorrect spellings, mispronunciation, and an improper way of performing certain skill work can be corrected and improved by correcting and practicing the right way of performing these acts.
- Substitution of Bad Habits by the appropriate socially approved behaviour: One of the convenient approaches in removing bad habits is to replace them with socially desirable habits. These socially desirable habits gradually make the bad habits die their natural death. That is why a person who wishes to give up his habit of smoking is often advised to take cough drops or betel nuts when the urge to smoke is strong. Similarly, bad habits like telling lies and improper eating habits can be replaced by telling the truth and proper eating habits for neutralising them in the course of time.
Additional
Extra Questions and Answers
1. How is a habit defined in psychology?
Answer: In psychology, any regularly occurring behaviour that requires little or no thought and is learned rather than innate is called a habit. A habit can be part of any activity, ranging from eating and sleeping to thinking and reacting, and is developed through reinforcement and repetition.
2. How did Garrett define the term “habit”?
Answer: Garrett defined habit as “the name given to behaviour so often repeated as to be automatic”.
3. According to James, what is man’s second nature?
Answer: According to James, “Habit is man’s second nature”.
4. How did Ryburn define a habitual action?
Answer: Ryburn defined a habitual action as “the result of many repetitions of the act in approximately the same way. It is done without conscious thought, performed smoothly, and with the maximum speed required”.
5. How do Behaviourists define habit?
Answer: Behaviourists define habit as something that, similar to how instincts motivate a person for a specific experience, makes a person restless to get back some past experience.
62. Elaborate on the five key suggestions for breaking bad habits. Why is a multi-pronged approach necessary to overcome ingrained negative behaviours?
Answer: Bad habits are harmful and are blots on the personality of an individual; therefore, every attempt should be made to get rid of them. The following five suggestions can be fruitful in breaking bad habits.
(i) Firm Determination and Strong Will Power: First, one should realise the necessity of setting oneself free from the clutches of a bad habit. Moreover, one should have a firm determination to break it. This requires strong willpower so that temptations are never allowed, as even a single repetition of a bad habit may throw the individual back to the starting point.
(ii) Strong Initiative with Quick Actions: Bad habits are like a powerful and dangerous enemy, so the initial attack should be well-planned. Public declarations and pledges can help, as they give emotional strength. For example, one who declares publicly that they will not smoke from a certain date receives an inner strength to give up the habit. However, mere declaration is not enough and must be followed by actions.
(iii) Use of Voluntary Practice: Many improper habitual actions can be rectified through voluntary practice. Incorrect spellings, mispronunciation, or an improper way of performing a certain skill can be corrected and improved by correcting and practicing the right way of performing these acts.
(iv) Substitution of Bad Habits by the appropriate socially approved behaviour: A convenient approach is to replace bad habits with socially desirable ones. These new habits gradually make the bad habits die their natural death. For instance, a person wishing to give up smoking might be advised to take cough drops when the urge to smoke is strong. Similarly, habits like telling lies can be replaced by telling the truth.
(v) To Hit on the Root Cause of Bad Habits: The root causes of bad habits should be discovered and removed. Many habits develop due to varying reasons, such as certain complexes, inner conflicts, or emotional disturbances. Nervous habits like nail-biting and nose-picking belong to this category. The emotional factor causing such habits should be taken into consideration, and children should be indirectly asked to give up such habits. Physical defects can also lead to bad habits, and proper medical care should be arranged in such cases.
A multi-pronged approach is necessary because bad habits are not simple behaviours; they are often powerful, dangerous, and deeply ingrained in our psyche, making them very difficult to break. They can arise from a wide variety of sources, including deep-seated emotional disturbances, inner conflicts, physical defects, or simple repetition. A single strategy is unlikely to address all these potential causes. For example, willpower alone may not be enough to overcome a nervous habit rooted in anxiety; in that case, hitting the root cause is essential. Likewise, simply trying to stop a habit might fail without substituting it with a positive alternative. Therefore, combining determination, public commitment, corrective practice, substitution, and addressing the root cause provides a more robust and effective plan to overcome these ingrained negative behaviours.
Extra MCQs: Knowledge-Based
1: The quote “man’s second nature” is famously used to define __________.
A. instinct
B. habit
C. character
D. emotion
Answer: B. habit
20: An unexpected and significant change in one’s daily habits and routine can lead to a __________ .
A. financial gain
B. mood upset
C. physical improvement
D. creative block
Answer: B. mood upset
Extra MCQs: Competency-Based
1: Assertion (A): A habit is a learned behavior that becomes automatic over time.
Reason (R): Habits are developed through reinforcement and repetition, requiring little to no conscious thought once established.
A. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
B. Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
C. A is true, but R is false.
D. A is false, but R is true.
Answer: A. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
63: An employee who has followed the same work process for 10 years is told that the company is adopting a new software system. The employee feels highly disturbed and is unable to adapt. This negative reaction is a primary disadvantage of habit formation, as it shows that habits can make a person lose the power to do what?
A. Perform tasks accurately
B. Work without fatigue
C. Adapt to new situations
D. Feel stable and secure
Answer: C. Adapt to new situations
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