Yearly Archives: 2022

In This Post we are  providing  CHAPTER 7 SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND GROUP PROCESSESS NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS for Class 12 PSYCHOLOGY which will be beneficial for students. These solutions are updated according to 2021-22 syllabus. These MCQS  can be really helpful in the preparation of Board exams and will provide you with a brief knowledge of the chapter

NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ON SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND GROUP PROCESSESS

1. Compare and contrast formal and informal groups, and in groups and outgroups.

Answer

Formal and Informal Groups
These groups differ in the degree to which the functions of the group are stated explicitly and formally. The functions of a formal group are explicitly stated as in the case of an office organisation. The roles to be performed by group members are stated in an explicit manner. The formal and informal groups differ on the basis of structure. The formation of formal groups is based on some specific rules or laws and members have definite roles. There are a set of norms which help in establishing order. A university is an example of a formal group. On the other hand, the formation of informal groups is not based on rules or laws and there is close relationship among members.

Ingroup and Outgroup
Just as individuals compare themselves with others in terms of similarities and differences with respect to what they have and what others have, individuals also compare the group they belong to with groups of which they are not a member. The term ‘ingroup’ refers to one’s own group, and ‘outgroup’ refers to another group. For ingroup members, we use the word ‘we’ while for outgroup members, the word ‘they’ is used. By using the words they and we, one is categorising people as
similar or different. It has been found that persons in the ingroup are generally supposed to be similar, are viewed favourably, and have desirable traits. Members of the outgroup are viewed differently and are often perceived negatively in comparison to the ingroup members. Perceptions of ingroup and outgroup affect our social lives.

2. Are you a member of a certain group? Discuss what motivated you to join that group.

Answer

Yes, I am a member of a certain group.These are the factors which motivated me to join that group:
(i) Security : When we are alone, we feel insecure.  Groups  reduce  this insecurity. Being with people gives a sense of comfort, and protection. As a result, people feel stronger, and are less vulnerable to threats.
(ii) Status : When we are members of a group that is perceived to be important by others, we feel recognised and experience a sense of power. Suppose your school wins in an inter-institutional debate competition, you feel proud and think that you are better than others.
(iii) Self-esteem : Groups provide feelings of self-worth and establish a positive social identity. Being a member of prestigious groups enhances one’s self-concept.
(iv) Satisfaction of one’s psychological and social needs : Groups satisfy one’s social and psychological needs such as sense of belongingness, giving and receiving attention, love, and power through a group.
(v) Goal achievement : Groups help in achieving such goals which cannot be attained individually. There is power in the majority.
(vi) Provide knowledge and information : Group membership provides knowledge and information and thus broadens our view. As individuals, we may not have all the required information. Groups supplement this information and knowledge.

3. How does Tuckman’s stage model help you to understand the formation of groups?

Answer

Groups usually go through different stages of formation, conflict, stabilisation, performance, and dismissal. Tuckman’s stage model suggested that groups pass through five developmental sequences which are forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.
(i) Forming stage: When group members first meet, there is a great deal of uncertainty about the group, the goal, and how it is to be achieved. People try to know each other and assess whether they will fit in. There is excitement as well as apprehensions.
(ii) Storming stage: It is a stage of intragroup conflict which is referred to as storming. In this stage, there is conflict among members about how the target of the group is to be achieved, who is to control the group and its resources, and who is to perform what task. When this stage is complete, some sort of hierarchy of leadership in the group develops and a clear vision as to how to achieve the group goal.
(iii) Norming stage: This storming stage is followed by norming. Group members by this time develop norms related to group behaviour. This leads to development of a positive group identity.
(iv) performing stage: It is the fourth stage. By this time, the structure of the group has evolved and is accepted by group members. The group moves towards achieving the group goal. For some groups, this may be the last stage of group development.
(v) Adjourning stage: For some groups, for example, in the case of an organising committee for a school function, there may be last stage and group comes to an end. In this stage, once the function
is over, the group may be disbanded.

4. How do groups influence our behaviour?

Answer

Groups and individuals exert influence on us which may force us to change our behaviours in a particular direction. Group influence our behaviour by the method of ‘social influence’ which means getting influenced by the imagined presence of other people. Throughout the day we may encounter a
number of situations where others have tried to influence our and make us think in ways they want.Social influence is a part of our life. In some situations, social influence on us is very strong as a result of which we tend to do things which we otherwise would have not done. On other occasions, we are able to defy influence of others and may even influence them to adopt our own viewpoint
There are three important group influence processes, i.e. conformity, compliance and obedience.
(i) Conformity: It means behaving according to the group norm, i.e. the expectations of other group members. Persons who do not conform (called ‘deviants’ or ‘non-conformists’) get noticed more than those who do conform.
(ii) Compliance: In this, there are external conditions that force the individual to accept the influence of the significant other. Compliance also refers to behaving in a particular way in response to a request made by someone. It could take place even without a norm
(iii) Obedience: A distinguishing feature of obedience is that such behaviour is a response to a person in authority. The presence of an authority figure immediately makes this behaviour different from conformity. For instance, you may stop talking loudly in the classroom when the teacher asks you
to keep quiet, but not when your classmate tells you to do the same thing.

5. How can you reduce social loafing in groups? Think of any two incidents of social loafing in school. How did you overcome it?

Answer

It has been found that individuals work less hard in a group than they do when performing alone. This
points to a phenomenon referred to as ‘social loafing’. Social loafing is a reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task, i.e. one in which outputs are pooled with those of other group members. An example of such a task is the game of tug-of-war. It is not possible for
us to identify how much force each member of the team has been exerting. Such situations give opportunities to group members to relax and become a free rider.
This phenomenon has been demonstrated in many experiments by Latane and his associates who asked group of male students to clap or cheer as loudly as possible as they (experimenters) were interested in knowing how much noise people make in social settings. They varied the group size; individuals were either alone, or in groups of two, four and six. The results of the study showed that although the total amount of noise rose up, as size increased, the amount of noise produced by each participant dropped. In other words, each participant put in less
effort as the group size increased. Reasons for the occurrence of social loafing:
(i) Group members feel less responsible for the overall task being performed and therefore exert less effort.
(ii) Motivation of members decreases because they realise that their contributions will not be evaluated on individual basis.https://b9ce6b68e5900a017d56c6b5a379a7ad.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html(iii) The performance of the group is not to be compared with other groups.
(iv) There is an improper coordination (or no coordination) among members.
(v) Belonging to the same group is not important for members. It is only an aggregate of individuals.

Two incidents of social loafing in school:
(i) Some students work very less in group projects and works.
(ii) Sometimes during sports competition, some students practice very less and thus this affect the whole team.
It may be reduced by:
(i) Making the efforts of each person identifiable.
(ii) Increasing the pressure to work hard (making group members committed to successful task performance).
(iii) Increasing the apparent importance or value of a task.
(iv) Making people feel that their individual contribution is important.
(v) Strengthening group cohesiveness which increases the motivation for successful group outcome.

6. How often do you show conformity in your behaviour? What are the determinants of conformity?

Answer

Conformity in your behavior means behaving according to the group norm, i.e. the expectations of other group members. Conformity in behavior can be shown by the following examples. Some of your friends come to you with a letter of protest against a rule that has been recently announced, i.e. banning use of mobile phones in the school. Personally you believe that the rule is very sensible and should be enforced. But you also know that if you do not sign the letter. Thus, I have to behave according to the group norm.
Determinants of conformity are size of the group, Size of the minority, nature of the task, public or private expression of behaviour and personality.
(i) Size of the group: Conformity is greater when the group is small than when the group is large. It
is easier for a deviant member (one who does not conform) to be noticed in a small group. However, in a large group, if there is strong agreement among most of the members, this makes the majority
stronger, and therefore, the norm is also stronger. In such a case, the minority member(s) would be more likely to conform because the group pressure would be stronger.
(ii) Size of the minority :  Suppose the subject finds that after some rounds of judgment of the lines, there is another participant who starts agreeing with the subject’s answer. When the dissenting
or deviating minority size increases, the likelihood of conformity decreases. In fact, it may increase the number of dissenters or non-conformists in the group.
(iii) Nature of the task: In Asch’s experiment, the task required an answer that could be verified, and could be correct or incorrect. Suppose the task involves giving an opinion about some topic. In
such a case, there is no correct or incorrect answer then conformity would be less likely in the second situation.
(iv) Public or private expression of behaviour: In the Asch technique, the group members are asked to give their answers publicly, i.e. all members know who has given which response. However, there can be other situations in which the behaviour of members is private. Less conformity is found under private expression than it is seen under public expression.
(v) Personality: The conditions described above show how the features of the situation are important in determining the degree of conformity shown. We also find that some individuals have a conforming personality. Such persons have a tendency to change their behaviour according to what others say or do in most situations.

7. Why do people obey even when they know that their behaviour may be harming others? Explain.

Answer

People obey even when they know that their behaviour may be harming others because if we disobey, some punishment might follow. Sometimes, it is because we believe that persons in authority must be obeyed.
Several reasons for this are:
(i) People obey because they feel that they are not responsible for their own actions, they are simply carrying out orders from the authority.
(ii) Authority generally possesses symbols of status (e.g., uniform, title) which people find difficult to resist.
(iii) Authority  gradually increases commands from lesser to greater levels and initial obedience binds the followers for commitment. Once you obey small orders, slowly there is an escalation of commitment for the person who is in authority and one starts obeying bigger orders.
(iv) Many times, events are moving at such a fast speed, for example in a riot situation, that one has no time to think, just obey orders from above.

8. What are the benefits of cooperation?

Answer

When groups work together to achieve shared goals, we call it cooperation. The rewards in
cooperative situations are group rewards and not individual rewards.
Benefits of coopoeration:
(i) People work together and hence work load on each individual is less.
(ii) Each individual can attain the goal only if other members of the group also attain the goal.
(iii) In cooperative groups, there is more coordination and acceptance for each other’s ideas.
(iv) members became more friendly and can excel easily in groups.
(v) Members are more active towards communication, interaction and discussions.

9. How is one’s identity formed?

Answer

One’s self-definition of who s/he is which may include both personal attributes, e.g. hard working, happy-go-lucky, or attributes which you share with others, e.g. girl or boy is known as social identity.
One’s self identity is formed by oneself as a unique individual, and social identities derived from groups we perceive ourselves to be members of.
Although some aspects of our identity are determined by physical characteristics, one may acquire other aspects as a consequence of our interaction with others in society. Sometimes we perceive ourselves as unique individuals and at other times we perceive ourselves as members of groups. Both are equally valid expressions of self. The extent to which we define ourselves either at personal or at social levels is flexible. From our own experience, we would realise that identification with social groups can have a great deal of importance for your self-concept. feel so because of our social identity as an Indian. Social identity is, thus, that aspect of our self-concept which is based
on our group membership. Social identity places us, i.e. tells us what and where we are in the larger social context, and thus helps us to locate ourselves in society.

10. What are some of the causes of intergroup conflict? Think of any international conflict. Reflect on the human price of this conflict.

Answer

Some of the major reasons for group conflicts are:
(i) Lack  of communication and faulty communication by both parties. This kind of communication leads to suspicion, i.e. there is a lack of trust. Hence, conflict results.
(ii) Another reason for intergroup conflict is relative deprivation. It arises when members of a group compare themselves with members of another group, and perceive that they do not have what they desire to have, which the other group has. In other words, they feel that they are not doing well in comparison to other groups. This may lead to feelings of deprivation and discontentment, which may trigger off conflict.
(iii) Another cause of conflict is one party’s belief that it is better than the other, and what it is saying should be done. When this does not happen, both parties start accusing each other. One may often witness a tendency to magnify even smaller differences, thereby conflict gets escalated because every member wants to respect the norms of her/his group.
(iv) A feeling that the other group does not respect the norms of my group, and actually violates those norms because of a malevolent intent.
(v) Desire for retaliation for some harm done in the past could be another reason for conflict.
(vi) Biased perceptions are at the root of most conflicts. As already mentioned earlier, feelings of ‘they’ and ‘we’ lead to biased perceptions.
(vii) Research has shown that when acting in groups, people are more competitive as well as more aggressive than when they are on their own. Groups compete over scarce resources, both material resources, e.g. territory, and money as well as social resources, e.g. respect and esteem.

In This Post we are  providing  CHAPTER 6 ATTITUDE AND SOCIAL COGNITION NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS for Class 12 PSYCHOLOGY which will be beneficial for students. These solutions are updated according to 2021-22 syllabus. These MCQS  can be really helpful in the preparation of Board exams and will provide you with a brief knowledge of the chapter

NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ON ATTITUDE AND SOCIAL COGNITION

1.Define attitude. Discuss the components of an attitude.
Ans. Attitudes are state of the mind, set of views or thoughts or ideas regarding some topic which have an evaluative feature (positive, negative or neutral). These are relatively stable predispositions. .
Various components of an attitude are as follows:
(i)The thought component is referred to as the cognitive aspect of attitude.
(ii)The emotional component is known as the affective aspect.
(iii)The tendency to act is called the behavioural (conative) aspect.
These three aspects have been referred to as the A-B-C (affective-behavioural-cognitive)components of attitude. Attitudes are themselves not a tendency to behave or act in certain ways. They are part of cognition, along with an emotional component which cannot be observed from outside.

2.Are attitudes learnt? Explain how?
Ans. By enlarge attitudes are learnt. They are formed on the basis of learning.
Formation of Attitudes: The term ‘attitude formation’ refers to the movement we make from having no attitude toward an object to having a positive or negative attitude. There are some factors which contribute to the formation of attitudes:
1.Learning: The attitudes are acquired through learning. Many of our views are acquired in situations in which we interact with others or merely observe their behaviour.
-Classical Conditioning/Leaming by Association:
•A basic form of learning in which one stimulus, initially neutral, acquires the capacity to evoke reactions through repeated pairing with another stimulus.
•Player often develop a strong liking for the bat by which they made good runs. Many students start liking a subject if they like the teacher.
-Instrumental Conditioning/Leaming Altitude by Reward and Punishment: A basic form of learning in which responses that lead to positive outcomes or that permit avoidance of negative outcomes are strengthened.
•It applies to the situations when people learn attitudes which are systematically rewarded by significant others, such as parents, teachers or friends.
-Observational Learning: A basic form of learning in which individuals acquire new forms of behaviour or through observing others.
•Children are keen observers and learn a whole lot of things from their parents and other family members.
•They learn many attitudes about other ethnic groups, neighbours and idealize simply by observing the behaviours of adults.
2.Learning through Exposure to Information:
•Many attitudes are learnt in a social context without physical presence of others. Print media, electronic media, biographies of self-actualized people facilitate attitude formations.
3.Learning Attitudes through Group or Cultural Norms:
•Norms are unwritten rules of behaviour. Gradually these norms may become part of our social cognition, in the form of attitudes, e.g., offering money, sweets, fruits and flowers in a place of worship is a normative behaviour in various religions. People imitate such behaviour shown by others as socially approved and develop positive attitude towards it.

3.What are the factors that influence the formation of an attitude?
Ans. The following factors provide the context for the learning of attitude through various processes:
(i) Family and School Environment: parents and other family-members play a significant role in attitude formation. Learning of attitudes within the family and school usually takes place by association, through rewards and punishment and through modelling.
(ii)Reference Groups: Attitudes towards political, religious and social groups, occupations, national and other issues are often developed through reference groups. Reference groups indicate to an individual the norms regarding acceptable behaviour and ways of thinking. Various institutions, religion, culture and communities are form of reference groups.
(iii) Personal Experiences: Many attitudes are formed, not in the family environment or through reference groups, but through direct personal experiences which bring about a drastic change in our attitude towards people and our own life.
(iv) Media Related Influences: Technological advances have made audio-visual media and internet as very powerful sources for attitude formation. School textbooks also influence attitude formation. The media can be used to create consumerist attitude. The media can exert both good and bad influences on attitudes.

4. Is behaviour always a reflection of one’s attitude? Explain with a relevant example.
Ans. An individual’s attitude may not always be exhibited through behaviour. Likewise one’s actual behaviour may be contrary to one’s attitude towards a particular topic. Psychologists have found that there would be consistency between attitude and behaviour when:
(i)The attitude is strong and occupies a central place in the attitude system.
(ii)The person is aware of his/her attitudes.
(iii)Person’s behaviour is not being watched or evaluated by others.
(iv)Person thinks that the behaviour would have a positive consequences.
Richard La Piere, an American social psychologist, conducted the following study. He asked a Chinese couple to travel across the United States, and stay in different hotels. Only once during these occasions they were refused service by one of the hotels. La Piere sent out questionnaires to managers of hotels and tourist homes in the same areas where the Chinese couple had travelled asking them if they would give accommodation to Chinese guest. A very large percentage said that they would not do so. This response showed a negative attitude towards the Chinese, which was inconsistent with the positive behaviour that was actually shown towards the travelling Chinese couple. Attitudes may not always predict actual pattern of one’s behaviour.

5.Highlight the importance of schemas in social cognition.
Ans.•Social schemas (schemata) are mental structure.
•They function as a framework to process social information. These schemas lead to emergence of prototypes.
•Prototypes are concepts which have most of the defining features of a concept, class or family.
•These are best representatives of the population.
•Various stereotypes emerge from these schemas. In other words stereotypes are category-based schemas.

6. Differentiate between prejudice and stereotype.
Ans. Prejudices are negative attitude.
•These are bias about others.
•Prejudices are baseless and false.
•It refers to biased attitude formed about an individual or a group of people.
•These are usually negative.
•It has three components, i.e., A-B-C-
(a) Affective (Emotional i.e dislike or hatred).
(b)Behavioural (i.e., discrimination).
(c)Cognitive (Believes, i.e., stereotypes).
Stereotypes are cognitive component of prejudice. It is strongly influenced by the processing of incoming social information.
•These are over-generalized beliefs, e.g., girls are talkative.
•Stereotypes are category based schemas.
•These may be positive or negative or neutral.
•Stereotype has no emotional blending.
•From stereotypes, prejudices may emerge very easily.
•Stereotypes are usually formed for the groups.
•Stereotypes are pre conceived notions.

7. Prejudice can exist without discrimination and vice-versa. Comment.
Ans. Prejudices can exist without being shown in the form of discrimination. Similarly,
discrimination can be shown without prejudice.
•Wherever prejudice and discrimination exist, conflicts are very likely to arise between groups within the same society.
•We all witnessed many instances of discrimination, with and without prejudice, based on gender, religion, community, caste, physical handicap, and illnesses such as AIDS.
•Moreover, in many cases, discriminatory behaviour can be curbed by law. But, the cognitive and emotional components of prejudice are more difficult to change.

8. Describe the important factors that influence impression formation.
Ans. Impression formation is a process by which impression about others is converting into more or less induring cognitions or thoughts about them.In short, impression formation is a process through which we draw quick conclusion/ inferences regarding others.
Factors facilitating Impression Formation:
•Nature of the phenomena (familiar or unfamiliar).
•Personality traits of the perceiver.
•Social schemas stored in the mind of perceiver.
•Situational factors.
The process of impression formation consists of the following three sub-processes:
•Selection: We take into account only some bits of information about the target person.
•Organization: the selected information is combined in a systematic way.
•Inference: We draw a conclusion about what kind of person the target is.
Some specific qualities, that influence impression formation, are:
•The information presented first has a stronger effect than the information presented at the end. This is called the primacy effect.
•We have a tendency to think that a target person who has one set of positive qualities must also be having other specific positives that are associated with first set. This is known as halo effect, e.g., if we think that a person is ‘tidy’ then we are likely to think that this person must also be hard/working.
•Whatever information comes at the end may have a stronger influence on impression formation. This is known as the recency effect.

9.Explain how the attribution made by an ‘actor’ would be different from that of an ‘observer’.
Ans. Actor observer phenomena refers to the tendency to attribute our own behaviour mainly to situational causes but the behaviour of others mainly to internal (dispositional) cause.
A distinction is found between the attribution that a person makes for actorrole and observer-role.
Person makes attribution for his/her own positive and negative experiences, it is actor role and the attribution made for another person’s positive and negative experience is observer-role.
For example, if we get good marks, we will attribute it to our own ability and hard work (actor-role, internal attribution for a positive experience). If we get bad marks, we will say we were unlucky or test was difficult (actor-role, external attribution for negative experience).
On the other hand, if our classmate gets good marks, we will attribute his/her success to good luck or easy test (observer-role, external attribution for positive experience). If same classmate gets bad marks, we are likely to feel that his/her failure was because of low ability or due to lack of effort (observer-role, internal attribution for a negative experience).
The reason for the difference between the actor and observer roles is that people want to have a nice image of themselves, as compared to others.

10.How does social facilitation take place?
Ans. • It is form of group influence.
•Social facilitation refers to a concept that performance on specific task is influenced by the mere presence of others.
•Norman Triplett observed that individuals show better performance in presence of others, than when they are performing the same task alone.
Better performance in presence of others is because the person experiences arousal, which makes the person react in a more intense manner.
The arousal is because the person feels he or she is being evaluated. Cottrell called this idea evaluation apprehension. The person will be praised if performance is good (reward); is criticised if performance is bad (punishment). We wish to get praise and avoid criticism, therefore we try to perform well and avoid criticism.
As in case of complex task, the person may be afraid of making mistakes. And the fear of criticism or punishment is stronger.
If the others present are also performing same task, this is called a situation of co-action. When task is simple or a familiar one, performance is better under co-action than when the person is alone.
Task performing can be facilitated and improved or inhibited and worsened by the presence of others. If we are working together in a larger group, the less effort each member puts in. This phenomena is called social loafing, based on diffusion of responsibility. Diffusion of responsibility can also be frequently seen in situations where people are expected to help.

In This Post we are  providing  CHAPTER 1 INTELLIGENCE AND APTITUDE NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS for Class 12 PSYCHOLOGY which will be beneficial for students. These solutions are updated according to 2021-22 syllabus. These MCQS  can be really helpful in the preparation of Board exams and will provide you with a brief knowledge of the chapter

NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ON INTELLIGENCE AND APTITUDE

1. How do psychologists characterize and define intelligence?
Ans. Psychological motion of intelligence is quite different from the common sensed motion of intelligence.
Generally people saw intelligence as mental alertness, ready art, quickness in learning and ability to understand relationships.
Oxford dictionary explained intelligence as the power of perceiving, learning understanding and knowing.
Accordingly Alfred Binet also used these attributes and defined intelligence as ability to judge well, understand well and reason well.Later Wechsler gave a comprehensive definition in terms of its functionality, i.e., its value for adaptation to environment. He defined intelligence as “the global and aggregate capacity of an individual to think rationally, act purposefully and to deal effectively with his/her environment.”
Present day psychologists such as Gardner and Sternberg emphasized that “Intelligent individual not only adapts to the environment, but actively modifies or shapes it.”
Sternberg views intelligence as “ the ability to adapt, to shape and select environment to accomplish ones goals and those of ones society and culture.”

2.What extent is our intelligence the result of heredity (nature) and environment (nurture)? Discuss.
Ans. (i) Whether intelligence is evolved or it is developed due to the environment, is a question of debate.
(ii)Lot of studies have been done to determine the role of nature and nurture.
(iii)Here we will discuss the controversy with the help of various twin studies, adoption studies and environmental studies.
On the basis of twin studies co-relation results are as follows:
(i)Identical twins reared together correlate 0.90
(ii)Identical twins reported early in childhood and reared in different environments correlate 0.72
(iii)Fraternal twins reared together correlate 0.60
(iv)Siblings reared together correlate 0.50
(v) Siblings reared apart correlate 0.25
•Adoption Studies before the Age of 6-7 Years
These studies of adopted children show that children’s intelligence is more similar to their biological parents.
These studies provide evidence that intelligence is determined because of nature.
•Adoption Studies after the Age of 6-7 Years
According to these studies as children grew older tends to more closer to that of their adoptive parents.
Environmental Studies
Evidence for the influence of environment (Nurture) on the basis of Twin studies.
(i) The intelligence score of twins reared apart as they grew older, tends to more closer to that of their adoptive parents.
(ii)On the basis of differences in environment, children from disadvantaged homes adopted into families with higher, socio-economic status exhibit an increase in their intelligence scores.
(iii)Environmental deprivation lowers intelligence. Factors such as nutrition, good family background and quality schooling increase growth rate of intelligence.
(iv)There is general consensus among psychologists that intelligence is a product of complex interaction of heredity (Nature) and environment (Nurture).
(v)Heredity provides the potentials and sets a range of growth whereas environment facilitates the development of intelligence.

3. Explain briefly the multiple intelligences identified by Gardner.
Ans. Gardner’s theory based on information processing approaches functions on three basic principles:
(i)Intelligence is not a single entity, there exist multiple intelligences.
(ii)The intelligences are independent from each other.
(iii)Different types of intelligences work together to provide a solution of problem. Gardner has so far proposed eight intelligences, however all individuals do not possess them in equal proportion. The particular situation or the context decides the prominence of one type of intelligence over the others.
Following are the eight types of intelligence:
1.Linguistic: This is related to reading, writing, listening, talking, understanding etc. Poets exhibit this ability better than others.
2.Logical-Mathematical: This type of intelligence deals with abstract reasoning and manipulation of symbols involved in numerical problems. It is exhibited in scientific work.
3.Spatial: This type of intelligence is involved in perceiving third dimension formation of images. It is used while navigating in space, forming, transforming and using mental images. Sailors, engineers, surgeons, pilots, care drivers, sculptors and painters have highly developed spatial intelligence.
4.Musical: Persons with musical intelligence show sensitivity to pitch and tone required for singing, playing and instrument, composing and appreciating music etc.
5.Bodily Kinesthetic: It requires the skills and dexterity for fine coordinated motor movements, such as those required for dancing, athletics, surgery, craft making etc.
6.Inter-personal: It requires understanding of motives, feelings and behaviours of other people.sales people, politicians, teachers, clinicians and religious readers have high degree of inter-personal intelligence.
7. Intra-personal: It is related to understanding one’s self and developing a sense of identity, e.g., philosophers and spiritual leaders.
8.Naturalistic: It is related to recognizing the flora and fauna, i.e., natural world and making a distinction in the natural world. It is more possessed by hunters, farmers, tourists, students of biological sciences etc.

4. How does the Triarchic theory help us to understand intelligence?
Ans. 1. Robert J. Sternberg proposes a theory of intelligence based on information
processing approach in 1985 known as the Triarchic theory of intelligence.
2. According to Sternberg, intelligence is an ability to adapt, to shape and select environment to accomplish ones goals and those of ones society and culture.
3. This theory attempts to understand the cognitive processes involved in problem solving.
4. According to him there are three types of intelligences:
(i)Componential intelligence (Analytical): This dimension specifies the cognitive processes that underlie an intelligent behaviour.
This dimension serves three different functions:
(a)Knowledge acquisition components: These are the processes used in learning, encoding, combining and comparing information.
(b)Metacomponents: ‘Meta’ means higher. These are executive processes. They control monitor and evaluate cognitive processing.
(c)Performance components: These components execute strategies prepared by metacomponents to perform a task.For example, While studying students plan the lesson chapterwise, they make
schedules, categories the learning material and do integrate the information to comprehend well.
(ii)Experiential intelligence (Creative): This dimension specifies how experiences effect intelligence and how intelligence effects a person’s experiences.
(а)Experiential intelligence refers to an individual’s ability to make use of one’s past experiences to deal with novel situations creatively and effectively.
(b)This intelligence is mostly high among scientists and creative people.
(c) For example if a person is trapped in a room, he finds out a way of coming out of the room using rope or ladder etc. in a creative way. He had some knowledge of getting out from this situation by watching out a movie few years back.
(iii)Contextual intelligence (Practical): This dimension specifies the ability to deal with environmental demands on daily basis.
(a)It is individual’s ability to make use of his/her potential to deal with day-to-day life.
(b)It may be called street smartness or ‘business sense’.
(c)People high in this ability are successful in life.
•It deals with the ways people handle effectively their environmental demands and adapt to different contexts with available resources

5. Any intellectual activity involves the independent functioning of three ‘neurological systems’. Explain with reference to PASS model.
Ans. According to PASS model, theory based on information processing approach, intellectual activity involves the interdependent functioning of the three neurological systems called the functional units of the brain.
These units are responsible for:
•the arousal and attention. • the simultaneous and successive processing.
•the planning.
Arousal and Attention
(i)State of arousal helps in attending to the stimuli.
(ii)Arousal and attention enable a person to process information.
(iii)Optimal level of arousal focuses our attention on relevant aspects of a problem.
(iv)Too much or too little arousal interferes with attention and performance. Example: Arousal helps the individual to focus ones attention on reading, learning and revising the contents of the material to be learnt.
Simultaneous and Successive Processing:
Simultaneous Processing refers to perceiving relations amongst various concepts and integrate them into meaningful patterns for comprehension!
For e.g., in Raven’s standard progressive matrices (RSPM Test) choosing appropriate pattern by comprehending relationship.
Successive Processing refers to recalling information serially so that one recall leads to another recall. For example, learning of digits and letters and multiplication tables.
Planning:
1.After the information is attended to and processed, planning is activated.
2.Planning involves reaching to the target and evaluating their effectiveness. Planning allows us to think of possible courses of action and implementing them.
3.If a plan does not work, it is modified to suit the requirements of the task or the situation.
4.For example, to take a test scheduled by your teacher, you’d have to set goals, plan a time schedule of studies, get clarifications in case of problems or think of other ways to meet your goals.

6. Are there cultural differences in the conceptualisation of intelligence?
Ans. Yes, culture, which is a set of beliefs, customs, attitudes and achievements in art of literature, affects the process of intellectual development.
•According to Sternberg, intelligence is a product of culture.
•Vyotsky believes that while elementary7 mental operations are common, higher mental activities like problem-solving and thinking are culturally produced.
•Technological Intelligence
(i)Promotes an individualistic pattern of action.
(ii)Individuals in technologically educated western societies possess this kind of intelligence.
(iii)They are well versed in skills of attention, observation, analysis, speed, moves abstraction, generalisation, creativity, Minimum moves etc.
•Integral Intelligence
(i)Intelligence in the Indian tradition is integral intelligence.
(ii)It views intelligence from a holistic perspective.
(iii)It gives equal attention to cognitive and non-cognitive processes, as well as their integration.
(iv)‘Buddhi’ is the knowledge of one’s own self based on conscience, will and desire.
(v)It has effective, motivational as well as cognitive components. .
It includes:
(i)Cognitive competence (discrimination, problem-solving).
(ii)Social competence (respect for elders, concern for others, respecting opinions of others).
(iii)Emotional competence (self regulation, self monitoring). ‘
(iv)Entrepreneurial competence commitment, persistence, patience).

7. What is IQ? How do psychologists classify people on the bases of their IQ scores?
Ans.(i)IQ is an index of brightness.
(ii)It is the ratio of mental age to chronological age.
(iii)The concept of IQ was given by William. Stern w7ho gave the formula to calculate IQ i.e.,

•IQ is relatively stable.
•It is a good predictor of potential.
•IQ scores are distributed in a population in such a way that most people tend to fall in the middle range of the distribution.
•This can be shown in the form of following table.

8.Discuss various types of intelligence tests.
Or
How can you differentiate between verbal and performance tests of intelligence?

Ans. Types of Intelligence Tests:
Individual or group tests based on contact: .
Individual Test:
(i)Administered to one individual at a time.
(ii)Requires the administrator to establish a rapport with the subject and be sensitive to his/her feelings, mood and expressions during the testing sessions which provides understanding of other aspects of subjects personality.
(iii)Allows people to answer orally or in written form or manipulate the objects as per the tester’s instructions.
• Example: Stanford Binet intelligence scale, WAIS, WISSC, Alexander Pass along test.
Group Test:
(i)Administered to several individuals at a time simultaneously.
(ii)Do not allow an opportunity to be familiar with the subjects’ feelings.
(iii)Seek answers in a Multiple-choice format.
(iv)It is relatively economical and less time consuming.
(v)Example: Group Test of Intelligence by Prayag Mehta, Group Test on Intelligence by S. Jalota.
Verbal, Non-verbal and Performance Tests based on Mode of Administration: Verbal Tests:
(i)Requires subject to give verbal responses either orally or in written form.
(ii)Can be administered to literates only. ,
(iii)Example: CIE, Verbal Group Test, Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale.
Non-verbal Test:
• Has pictures or illustrations as test items.
•Example: Ravens progressive matrices. In this test the subject examines an incomplete pattern and chooses a figure from the alternatives that will complete the pattern.
•Reduces culture biases.
•Example: SRPM, CIE Non-verbal group test of Intelligence.
Performance Test:
•Requires the subject to manipulate objects to perform the test.
•Written language is not necessary for answering the items.
•Example: Kohs’s Block designs test. Here the subject is asked to arrange the blocks in a specified period to produce a given design, Bhatia’s Battery performance test.
•Can be administered to persons from different cultures and reduce culture biases.
•Example: Draw a Man Test by Pramila Pathak, Kohs Block designs test.
Culture Biased or Culture Fair Tests based on Nature of Items used:
•Psychological tests that show a bias toward the culture in which they are developed are Culture Biased Tests.
•Tests developed-in-America and Europe represent an urban and middle class cultural ethos. (Middle class white subjects perform well on these tests). The items do not consider favourably to Asians and Africans.
•Culture Fair Tests: One does not discriminate against as individuals belong to different cultures.
•Non-verbal and Performance Tests reduce cultural influences.
To overcome the limitation of Culture biased tests, Culture fair tests were developed, e.g. non-verbal and performance tests are called so because people of any culture could take them. For e.g. Standard progressive Matrices and Bhatia’s Battery Performance Test.

9. Discuss how interplay of Nature and Nurture influences intelligence.
Or
All persons do not have the same intellectual capacity. How do individuals vary in their intellectual ability? Explain.
Ans. All persons do not have the same intellectual capacity. They vary in their intellectual ability. Some are exceptionally bright and some are below average. Some possess high IQ range while others have average or below average.
All the scores gradually and symmetrically decline towards both the sides but never touch the X-axis.
(i) The frequency distribution for the IQ scores tends to approximate a bell-shaped curve, called the normal curve. This type of distribution is symmetrical around the central value, called the mean.
(ii) On the basis of IQ, people are classified in different groups. It is clear that only 2.2 percent people who possess above 130 IQ range are very intelligent or very superior, their IQ score is more than 130.
(iii) People falling between 90-109 IQ range are considered as average. The mean IQ score in a population is 100. People with IQ scores in the range of 90-110 have normal intelligence.
(iv) Those with IQ below 70 are suspected to have ‘mental retardation’. Mental retardation refers to sub-average intellectual functioning. The behaviour is maladaptive and manifest in four forms i.e., mild, moderate, severe and profound mental retardation.
The extreme right also lie to 2.2 percent population which are known as gifted i.e., they enjoy exceptional intelligence, exceptional talent and exceptional creativity.

10.Which of the two lQ or EQ, do you think would be more related to success in life and Why?
Ans. (i) IQ is a good predictor of potential.
(ii) EQ is a good predictor of success.
-Researchers had proved that—EQ helps in dealing with students who are stressed and face challenges of the outside world.
-It improves the academic performance.
-It is very useful in preparing students to face the challenges of life outside the classroom.
-They are less anti-social and more co-operative.

In This Post we are  providing  CHAPTER 5 SELF AND PERSONALITY NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS for Class 12 PSYCHOLOGY which will be beneficial for students. These solutions are updated according to 2021-22 syllabus. These MCQS  can be really helpful in the preparation of Board exams and will provide you with a brief knowledge of the chapter

NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ON SELF AND PERSONALITY

1.What is self? How does the Indian notion of self differ from the Western notion?
Ans. Self is an organized cognitive structure. It can be understood in terms of subject and object or I and Me. It refers to the totality of one’s conscious thoughts, and feelings which pertain to one’s own self. .
Indian Concept of Self
•Self is characterized by the shifting nature of the boundaries.
•The Indian view does not make rigid dichotomies.
•It is based on collectivistic Indian society.
Western Concept of Self
•The boundaries between self and the group are rigid.
•It holds clear dichotomies between self and group.
•It is based on individualistic society of the West.

2. What is meant by delay of gratification? Why is it considered important for adult development?
Ans. (i) Learning to delay or defer from gratification of needs is called self-control. It emerges from self-regulation.
(ii)Self-regulation is behavioural component of self.
(iii)It refers to an ability to organize and monitor ones own behaviour. People who can change their behaviour according to the demands of the external environment are high on self-monitoring.
(iv)Self-regulation leads to self-control.
(v)It plays a key role in fulfilment of long-term goals.
(vi)Indian culture provides us effective mechanisms like fasting (vrata or roza) and non-attachment with worldly things to develop self-control.
(vii)It is ones ability to say ‘No’.
Psychological techniques to develop self-control are:
(a)Observation of Own Behaviour: it provides us with necessary information that may be used to change, modify, or strengthen certain concepts of self. ‘
(b)Self-instruction: We often instruct ourselves to do something and behave the way we want.
(c)Self-reinforcement: It involves rewarding behaviours that have pleasant outcomes (like going to see a-movie with friends if we do well in exams).
— Self-control is important for the development of mature personality. This is the reason that all cultures emphasise the self-control. It helps in the fulfilment of long-term goals. Indian cultural tradition provide us with certain effective mechanisms, e.g., fasting in varta or roja and know attachment with worldly things for developing self-control.
— Self-control is also important for effective functioning of social network.

3. How do you define personality? What are the main approaches to the study of personality?
Ans. The word ‘personality’ is derived from the Latin word ‘persona’, which means a mask or false face which Greek actors used to wear when acting on stage. According to Gordon Allport “Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychological systems thqt determine his unique adjustments to his environment.”
One of the major approaches to understanding personality was to develop theories on what it was. There are many broad personality theories, which can be grouped into four categories: –
(i)Dynamic approaches, which emphasize on-going interaction among motives, impulses and psychological processes.
(ii)Type and train approaches, which focus on people’s characteristics, stubbornness, shyness and so forth and how these characteristics are organized into systems.
(iii)Humanistic approaches, which emphasize the self and the importance of the individual’s subjective view of the world.
(iv) Learning and behavioural approaches, which emphasize the way habits are acquired through basic learning process.

4. What is trait approach to personality? How does it differ from type approach?
Ans. Trait approach psychologists explain personality on the basis of specific psychological characteristics.
Type approach psychologists believe that personality can be classified into broad categories.
Traits are relatively stable, persistent and characteristic patterns of behaviour which makes the individual different from others.
(i)These are overlapping, i.e., inclusive in nature.
(ii)Traits are specific psychological characteristics, e.g., shy or timid.
Types are cluster of similar traits.
(i)These are broad categories. .
(ii)These do not overlap, i.e., exclusive in nature, e.g., extrovert or introvert.

5. How does Freud explain the structure of personality?
Ans. The Id:
(i) The Id is the original source of personality, present in the newborn infant, from which the ego and super ego later develop.
(ii) It consists of everything that is inherited, including the instinctual drives—sex and
aggression.
(iii) It is closely linked to the biological processes and provides the energy source—the libido for the operation of all three systems.
(iv) It is totally unconscious and works on pleasure principles regardless of any,external potential costs of seeking the gratification of impulses.
The Ego:
(i) The ego develops out of Id because of the necessity for dealing with the real world. The ego’s task is to hold the Id in check until conditions allows for satisfaction of its impulses.
(ii) It operates on reality principles. For example, a hungry man would want to have food at any cost due to id impulses, but it is the ego which delays tl’ i hunger impulse until the appropriate conditions are found.
(iii)The ego is essentially the executive of the personality. It keeps a person working for a living, getting along with people and generally adjusting to the realities of life.
(iv) Ego mediates between the demands of id, the realities of the world and the demands of the super ego.
The Super Ego:
(i)It is related to the values and morals of the society as taught to us by our parents and others. It works according to social norms.
(ii)It is concerned with morality—whether various ways that could satisfy id impulses are right or wrong.
The main functions of the super ego are:
(i) To inhibit the unacceptable impulses of Id such as sex and aggression.
(ii)Freud assumed that Id is energised by two instinctual forces, called life instinct and death instinct. Life instinct is individuals, tendency to construct whereas death instinct is for the destruction. According to Freud, life instinct is more dominant among human beings.
According to Freud, the instinctual life force that energises the Id is called Libido.
It works on the pleasure principle, and seeks immediate gratification. It is source of energy.

6. How would Horney’s explanation of depression be different from that of Alfred Adler?
Ans. While Karen Horney focuses more on interpersonal relationships during childhood, Alfred gives greater importance to personal goals of an individual.
There are, in my opinion, Horney would attribute the cause of depression to parental relations with children which are characterized by excessive interference or indifference. Deep anxiety would result from the behaviour rewards the child which, if is erratic, indifferent and discouraging feelings of isolation and helplessness will also emerge. Alfred Adler would, on the other hand, attribute depression to the feeling of inadequacy and guilt arising within the individual, due to the inability to achieve his/her personal goals. These goals provide an individual with security and are important in overcoming feelings of inadequacy. If individual is not able to attain the goals and could not overcome inferiority appropriately then it leads to depression.

7. What is the main proposition of humanistic approach to personality? What did Maslow mean by self-actualization?
Ans. Humanistic theories emphasise personal responsibility and innovate tendencies toward personal growth. They focus on the importance of people’s subjective attitudes, feelings and beliefs especially with regard to the self.
•According to humanistic approach, we human beings are most creative, growing, fully functioning and self-actualizing people.
•Fully functioning persons, according to Rogers theory, psychologically healthy persons who live life to the fullest.
•They live in the here and now and trust their own feelings. They are sensitive to the needs of others but they do not allow society’s standards to shape their feelings or actions to an excessive degree.
•Rogers suggests that each individual has a concept of ideal self. If there is discrepancy between real self and ideal self then individual develops maladjustment.
•Rogers proposed two basic assumptions:
(a)Human behaviour is goal-directed and worthwhile.
(b)People always choose adaptive and self-actualizing behaviour.
•Rogers believed that many individuals fail to become fully functioning persons because they grow up in an atmosphere of conditional positive regard and develop distorted self-concept# which interferes with personal growth. Such people fail to self-actualise.
•All human beings desire unconditional positive regard, freedom of choice and feeling of fulfilment for attainment of self-actualization.
•Humanistic theories don’t deny the importance of past experience but they generally focus on the present.
Maslow’s Contribution to Humanistic Approach
Maslow’s Self-Actualization
•It is a state which people have reached their own fullest potential.
•He had an optimistic view of man who has potentialities for love, joy and creative work.
•According to him, human beings are free to shape their lives and to self-actualise.

8. Discuss the main observational methods used in personality assessment. What problems do we face in using these methods?
Ans. • Observational method is a very powerful tool of psychological enquiry. It is an effective method of describing behaviour.
•A scientific observation differs from day-to-day observation in many respects,
(i)Selection: Psychologists do not observe all the behaviour that they encounter. Rather, they select a particular behaviour for observation.
(ii)Recording: While observing, a researcher records the selected behaviour using different means, such as marking tallies for the already identified behaviour whenever they occur, taking notes describing each activity in greater detail using short hand or symbols, photographs, video recording, etc.
(iii)After the observations have been made, psychologists analyse whatever they have recorded with a view to derive some meaning out of it.
(iv)Observation is a skill. A good observation is a skill. A good observer knows what he/she is looking for, w’hom he/she wants to observe, when and where the observation needs to be made.
•Observation can be of the following types :
(a) Non-Participant vs. Participant Observation:
1.Non-participant observation
(i)To observe the person or event from a distance.
(ii)The observer may become part of the group being observed.
(iii)In the first case, the person being observed may not be aware that he/she is
being observed. For example, you want to observe the pattern of interaction between teachers and students in a particular class. .
(iv) Install a video camera to record the classroom activities, which you can see later and analyse. Alternatively, you may decide to sit in a corner of the class without interfering or participating in their everyday activities. This type of observation is called non-participant observation.
2. Participant observation
(i)In participant observation, the observer becomes a part of the school or the group of people being observed.
(ii)the observer takes some time to establish a rapport with the group so that they start accepting him/her as one of the group members.
(iii)the degree of involvement of the observer with the group being observed would vary depending upon the focus of the study.
The advantage of the observation method is that it enables the researcher to study people and their behaviour in a naturalistic situation, as it occurs. However, the observation method is labour-intensive, time-consuming, and is susceptible to the observer’s bias. Our observation is influenced by our values and beliefs about the person or the event.

9. What is meant by structured personality tests? Which are the two most widely used structured personality tests?
Ans. Structured personality tests are self-report measures that have the following features:
•Questions are direct and structured.
•They are called self-report because the examinee has to respond objectively to the items of the measure and his/her response are accepted as they are.
•They are objective in nature and they deal with the present state of mind.
— Self-report measures use inventories and questionnaires to assess conscious part of personality.
— Goal of the test may be revealed.
— These tests assess only conscious part of personality
•Their results depend on motivation and emotional state of the examinee; they are
non-projective and direct inferences are made. _
Some of the self-report measures are:
1.Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ): This test was developed by Eysenck to assess two basic dimensions of personality namely introverted—extroversion and emotionally stable—emotionally unstable (Neuroticism).
2.MMPI: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. This test was developed by Hathaway and Mckinely.
•It has been found very effective in detecting psycho-pathology like hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria etc.
•The test is divided into 10 sub scales. This test helps in clinical diagnosis of various mental disorders like hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, etc.
•It has two sets’MMPI-I and MMPI-II. Now-a-days, MMPI-II is being used.
•It has 567 items in the form of affirmative statements. The subject judges each item ‘statements’ as true or false.
•MMPI is one of the very good tests for clinical purposes (diagnosis).
•Indian version of MMPI is also available named as Jodhpur Multiphasic Personality Inventory (JMPI) by Malik and Joshi.
16-PF Questionnaire
•It is developed by Cattell.
•It identifies large set of personality descriptions—subjected to factor analysis to identify basic personality structure.
•Subject responds to situation by choosing from alternatives.
•This test is being used with high school level students in India for career guidance
and counselling. ‘
Problems Faced by self-report Measures
•Social Desirability: It is a tendency on part of the respondent to endorse items in a socially desirable manner.
•Acquiescence: It is a tendency of the subject to agree with items/questions irrespective of contents.
•Testing and understanding personality require great skill and training.
•People become self-aware and conscious, hesitate to share thoughts and feelings and motivation. If they do it, it is done in a socially desirable manner. So, the real personality characteristics are not manifested.

10. State in common features of projective techniques. Describe anyone projective technique.
Or
Explain how projective techniques assess personality. Which projective tests of personality are widely used by psychologists?
Ans. •Projective tests of personality are widely used by psychologists.
•Projective techniques are most indirect method to assess personality.
•Psycho analytic theory proposed that behaviour is also determined by unconscious forces.
•The projective techniques were developed to assess unconscious motives and feelings.
— The stimulus material is relative or fully unstructured and poorly defined.
— The person being assessed is usually not told the purpose and the method of scoring and interpretation before the administration of test. — The person is informed that there are no right or wrong responses.
— Each response is considered to reveal a true and significant aspect of personality.
— The scoring and interpretation in projective assessment are lengthy and subjective.
Projective Techniques
— Developed to assess unconscious motives, feelings and conflicts.
— A less structured or unstructured stimulus or situation will allow the individual to project his/her feelings, desires and needs on to that situation,
— Projections are interpreted by experts.
— Cannot be scored objectively, require qualitative analysis for which a rigorous training is needed.
1.The Rorschach Inkblot Test (Hermann Rorschach)
•Consists of 10 inkblots—5 black and white, 2 with red ink, 3 in pastel colours.
•Blots are symmetrical in design with a specific shape or form, made by dropping ink on a piece of paper and then folding the paper in half (hence called inkblot test).
•The cards are administered individually in two phases:
—Performance proper: The subjects are shown the cards and are asked to tell what they see in each of them.
—Inquiry: A detailed report of the response is prepared by asking the subject to tell where, how, and on what basis was a particular response made.
•Fine judgment is necessary to place the subject’s responses in a meaningful context. Use and interpretation of this test requires extensive training
2. The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Morgan and Murray
•This test consists of 30 black and white picture cards and one blank card—each picture card depicts one or more people in a variety of situations.
• Some cards are used specifically with adult males or females, boys or girls—have been modified for the children and the aged.
•The cards are presented one at a time and the subject is asked to tell a story describing the situation presented in the picture—what led up to the situation, what is happening at the moment, what will happen in the future, what the characters are feeling and thinking?
•Uma Chaudhury’s Indian adaptation of TAT is also available.
3.Rosenzweig’s Picture-Frustration Study (P-F Study)
• This study assesses how people express aggression in the face of a frustrating situation.
•Presents with the help of cartoon-like pictures a series of situations in which one person frustrates another, or calls attention to a frustrating condition.
•The subject is asked to tell what the other (frustrated) person will say or do.
•The analysis of responses is based on the type and direction of aggression—examine whether the focus is on the frustrating object (environment), or on protection of the frustrated person (oneself), or on constructive solution of the problem.
•Pareek has adapted this test for the Indian population
4. Sentence Completion Test
•This test makes use of a number of incomplete sentences—the starting part of the sentence is first presented and the subject has to provide an ending to the sentence.
•The type of endings used by the subjects reflect their attitudes, motivation and conflicts.
•The test provides subjects with several opportunities to reveal their underlying unconscious motivations.
5. Draw-a-Person Test
•In this test, the subject is asked to draw a person on a sheet of paper and then a figure of an opposite sex person.
•Finally, the subject is asked to make a story about the person as if he/she was a character in a novel or play.
•Some examples of interpretations are as follows:
— Omission of facial features suggests that the person tries to evade a highly conflict-ridden interpersonal relationships.
— Graphic emphasis on the neck suggests lack of control over impulses.
— Disproportionately large head suggests organic brain disease and pre-occupation with headaches. ..
Limitations
•Interpretation of the responses requires sophisticated skills and specialized training.
•There are problems associated with the reliability of scoring and validity of interpretations.

In This Post we are  providing  CHAPTER 3 HUMAN STRENGTHS AND MEETING LIFE CHALLENGES NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS for Class 12 PSYCHOLOGY which will be beneficial for students. These solutions are updated according to 2021-22 syllabus. These MCQS  can be really helpful in the preparation of Board exams and will provide you with a brief knowledge of the chapter

NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ON HUMAN STRENGTHS AND MEETING LIFE CHALLENGES

1. Explain the concept of stress. Give examples from daily life.

Answer

Stress is derived from Latin word ‘strictus’ which means tight or narrow. Stress can be described as the pattern of responses an organism makes to stimulus event that disturbs the equilibrium and exceeds a person’s ability to cope. All the challenges, problems, and difficult circumstances put us to stress. It gives energy, increases human arousal and affects performance. High stress too can produce unpleasant effects and cause our performance to deteriorate. Conversely, too little stress may cause one to feel somewhat listless and low on motivation which may lead us to perform slowly and less efficiently. It is important to remember that not all stress is inherently bad or destructive.
Examples from daily life:
Attending parties may be stressful for a person who likes to spend quiet evenings at home.
If a person gets low marks than his/her expectations, then it may be stressful and a sign of frustration for them.
When someone is forced to choose the job due to family pressure then it may stressful for him afterwards.

2. State the symptoms and sources of stress.

Answer

Symptoms of stress:
Some of us know our pattern of stress response and can gauge the depth of the problem by the nature and severity of our own symptoms or changes in behaviour. These symptoms of stress can  be physical,  emotional  and behavioural. Any of the symptoms can indicate a degree of stress which, if left unresolved,  might  have  serious implications.

Sources of stress:
A wide range of events and conditions can generate stress. Among the most important of these are major stressful life events, such as death of a loved one or personal injury, the annoying frequent hassles of everyday life and traumatic events that affect our lives.

3. Describe the GAS model and illustrate the relevance of this model with the help of an example.

Answer

Selye studied the body when stress is prolonged by subjecting animals to a variety of stressors such as high temperature, X-rays and insulin injections, in the laboratory over a long period of time. He also observed patients with various injuries and illnesses in hospitals. Selye noticed a similar pattern of bodily response in all of them. He called this pattern the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). According to him, GAS involves three stages: alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion.

(i) Alarm reaction stage: The presence of a noxious stimulus or stressor leads to activation of the adrenal-pituitary-cortex system. This triggers the release of hormones producing the stress response. Now the individual is ready for fight or flight.
(ii) Resistance stage: If stress is prolonged, the resistance stage begins. The para-sympathetic nervous system calls for more cautious use of the body’s resources. The organism makes efforts to cope with the threat, as through confrontation.
(iii) Exhaustion stage: Continued exposure to the same stressor or additional stressors drains the body of its resources and leads to the third stage of exhaustion. The physiological systems involved in alarm reaction and resistance become ineffective and susceptibility to stress-related diseases such as high blood pressure becomes more likely.

Selye’s model has been criticised for assigning a very limited role to psychological factors in stress. Researchers have reported that the psychological appraisal of events is important for the determination of stress. How people respond to stress is substantially influenced  by  their perceptions, personalities and biological constitutions

4. Enumerate the different ways of coping with stress.

Answer

To manage stress we often need to reassess the way we think and learn coping strategies. Different ways of coping with stress are:
(i) Task-oriented Strategy: This involves obtaining information about the stressful situation and about alternative courses of action and their probable outcome. It also involves deciding priorities and acting so as to deal directly with the stressful situation. For example, schedule my time better, or think about how I have solved similar problems.
(ii) Emotion-oriented Strategy: This can involve efforts to maintain hope and to control one’s emotions. It can also involve venting feelings of anger and frustration, or deciding that nothing can be done to change things. For example, tell myself that it is not really happening to me, or worry about what I am going to do.
(iii) Avoidance-oriented Strategy: This involves denying or minimising the seriousness of the situation. It also involves conscious suppression of stressful thoughts and their replacement by self-protective thoughts. Examples of this are watching TV, phone up a friend, or try to be with other people.

5. Explain the effect of stress on psychological functioning.

Answer

The effect of stress on psychological functioning:
(i) Emotional Effects: Those who suffer from stress are far more likely to experience mood swings, and show erratic behaviour that may alienate them from family and friends. In some cases this can start a vicious circle of decreasing confidence, leading to more serious emotional problems. Some examples are feelings of anxiety and depression, increased physical tension, increased psychological tension and mood swings.
(ii) Physiological Effects: When the human body is placed under physical or psychological stress, it increases the production of certain hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones produce marked changes in heart rate, blood pressure levels, metabolism and physical activity. Although, this physical reaction will help us to function more effectively when we are under pressure for short periods of time, it can be extremely damaging to the body in the long-term effects. Examples of physiological effects are release of epinephrine and nor-epinephrine, slowing down of the digestive system, expansion of air passages in the lungs, increased heart rate and constriction of blood vessels.
(iii) Cognitive Effects: If pressures due to stress continue, one may suffer from mental overload. This suffering from high level of stress can rapidly cause individuals to lose their ability to make sound decisions. Faulty decisions made at home, in career, or at workplace may lead to arguments, failure, financial loss or even loss of job. Cognitive effects of stress are poor concentration, and reduced short-term memory capacity.
(iv) Behavioural Effects: Stress affects our behaviour in the form of eating less nutritional food, increasing intake of stimulants such as caffeine, excessive consumption of cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs such as tranquillisers etc. Tranquillisers can be addictive and have side effects such as loss of concentration, poor coordination, and dizziness. Some of the typical behavioural effects of stress seen are disrupted sleep patterns, increased absenteeism, and reduced work performance.

6. Describe how life skills can help meet life’s challenges.

Answer

Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. Our ability to cope depends on how well we are prepared to deal with and counterbalance everyday demands and keep equilibrium in our lives. These life skills can be learned and even improved upon. Assertiveness, time management, rational thinking, improving relationships, self-care and overcoming unhelpful habits such as perfectionism,
procrastination, etc. are some life skills that will help to meet the challenges of life

7. Discuss the factors that lead to positive health and well-being.

Answer

Various factors have been identified which facilitate the development of positive health. Health is a state of complete physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Positive health comprises the following constructs: “a healthy body, high quality of personal relationships, a sense of purpose in life self-regard, mastery of life’s tasks and resilience to stress, trauma, and change”. Specifically, factors that act as stress buffers and facilitate positive health are diet, exercise, positive attitude, positive thinking, and social support.

8. How does stress affect the immune system?

Answer

Stress can cause illness by impairing the workings of the immune system. The immune system guards the body against attackers, both from within and outside. Psychoneuroimmunology focuses on the
links between the mind, the brain and the immune system. It studies the effects of stress on the immune system. How does the immune system work? The white blood cells (leucocytes) within the immune system identify and destroy foreign bodies (antigens) such as viruses. It also leads to the production of antibodies. There are several kinds of white blood cells or leucocytes within the immune system, including T cells, B cells and natural killer cells. T cells destroy invaders, and T-helper cells increase immunological activity. It is these T-helper cells that are attacked by the Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV), the virus causing Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). B cells produce antibodies. Natural killer cells are involved in the fight against both viruses
and tumours.
Stress can affect natural killer cell cytotoxicity, which is of major importance in the defence against various infections and cancer. Reduced levels of natural killer cell cytotoxicity have been found in people who are highly stressed, including students facing important examinations, bereaved persons, and those who are severely depressed. Studies reveal that immune functioning is better in individuals receiving social support. Also, changes in the immune system will have more effect on health among those whose immune systems are already weakened.

9. Give an example of a life event which is likely to be stressful. Suggest reasons why it is likely to cause different degrees of stress to the person experiencing it.

Answer

Changes, both big and small, sudden and gradual affect our life from the moment we are born. We learn to cope with small, everyday changes but major life events can be stressful, because they disturb our routine and cause upheaval. If several of these life events that are planned (e.g. moving into a new house) or unpredicted (e.g. break-up of a long-term relationship) occur within a short period of time, we find it difficult to cope with them and will be more prone to the symptoms of stress.
Unexpected accident or trauma or death of a close family member are examples of life events which are very stressful for the members, relatives of the family and friends.
The impact of most life events varies from person to person. Factors such as age at which the event was first experienced, frequency of occurrence, duration of the stressful event and social support are the reasons which is likely to cause different degrees of stress to the person experiencing it.

10. Given what you know about coping strategies, what suggestions would you give to your friends to avoid stress in their everyday lives.

Answer

Coping is a dynamic situation-specific reaction to stress. It is a set of concrete responses to stressful situations or events that are intended to resolve the problem and reduce stress.
I would suggest my friends to adopt problem-focused strategies and emotion focused strategies. Both are coping strategies which can be used to handle stressful situations.
Problem-focused strategies attack the problem itself, with behaviours designed to gain information, to alter the event, and to alter belief and commitments. They increase the person’s awareness, level of knowledge, and range of behavioural and cognitive coping options. They can act to reduce the threat value of the event. For example “I made a plan of action and followed it”. Emotion-focused strategies call for psychological changes designed primarily to limit the degree of emotional disruption caused by an event, with minimal effort to alter the event itself. For example “I did some things to let it out of my system”. While both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping are necessary when facing stressful situations, research suggests that people generally tend to use the former more often than the latter.