CBSE Class 12 Psychology Psychology And Life Worksheet

Question. Distinguish between ‘instrumental aggression’ and ‘hostile aggression’. Suggest some strategies to reduce aggression and violence.
Answer. Instrumental aggression is an act of aggression meant to obtain a certain goal or object.
For example, a bully slaps a new student in school to snatch his chocolate. Hostile aggression is expression of anger causing harm but not to obtain anything from the victim. For example, a criminal may beat up a person in the community for mentioning his name to the police.
The following are the various ways of reducing aggression and violence:
(i) Parents and teachers should not encourage or reward aggression in any form.
(ii) Opportunities to observe or imitate aggressive models should be reduced drastically.
(iii) Imparting social justice and equality in society may help in reducing frustration and hence reduce aggression.
(iv) A positive attitude towards peace should be inculcated.

Question. Why is the concept of ‘personal space’ important for human beings? Justify your answer with the help of an example.
Answer.(i) It explains many of the negative effects of crowding as an environmental stressor.
(ii) It tells us about our social relations. For example, we are most likely to sit beside a friend in a library.
(iii) It gives us some idea about how physical space can be modified in order to reduce stress or discomfort in social situations or to make social interaction more enjoyable and fruitful.

Question. What are the salient features of crowding? Explain the major psychological consequences of crowding.
Answer. Crowding is the person’s reaction to the presence of a large number of persons within a particular area or apace. When this number goes beyond a certain level, it becomes an environmental stressor and causes stress to individuals in that situation.
The experience of crowding causes
- a feeling of discomfort,
- loss or decrease in privacy,
- negative view of the space around the person and
- feeling of loss of control over social interaction.
For example, 15 people squeezing on 4 seats in a railway compartment experience crowding but the same 15 people in a marriage party do not experience crowding.
(i) Crowding and high density may lead to abnormal behavior and aggression. For example, rats in a highly populated enclosed space show aggressive behaviour such as biting the tails of other rats.
(ii) Crowding leads to lowered performance on different tasks that involve cognitive processes and has adverse effects on memory and emotional state.
(iii) Children growing up in very crowded households show lower academic performance and experience greater conflict with their parents.
(iv) The nature of social interaction determines the degree to which an individual will react to crowding. For example, if the interaction is a party, the presence of large number of people does not cause stress.
(v) In cultures that emphasize the importance of the group or collectivity over the individual, the presence of large number of people is not considered undesirable while in cultures where individualism is given more importance, crowding is experienced as stressful.

Question. What do you understand by the term ‘disaster’? List the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. How can it be remedied?
Answer. The effects of natural disasters such as tsunamis, floods, cyclones and volcanic eruptions are:
(i) They leave people poverty-stricken, homeless, without any resources, usually with a loss of everything they owned.
(ii) The sudden loss of all their belongingness as well as their dear ones leaves people shocked and stunned.
This causes a disorder called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The features of PTSD are:
(i) People become disoriented by denying to themselves that something terrible has happened.
(ii) Physical reactions such as difficulty in sleeping, change in the eating pattern, increased heart-beat and blood pressure and getting startled easily is found among the victims.
(iii) Emotional reactions such as grief and fear, irritability, anger, helplessness, depression, sometimes absolute lack of emotion, guilt feelings for having survived while someone else in the family died, blaming oneself, and lack of interest in even routine activities.
(iv) Cognitive reactions such as worry, difficulty in concentration, reduced span of attention, confusion, loss of memory, unwanted vivid memories or nightmares of the event.
(v) Social reactions, such as withdrawal from others, getting into conflict with others,having frequent arguments with even loved ones and feeling rejected or left out.

Intensity of reaction in PTSD is affected by:
(i) Severity of the disorder and loss incurred both in terms of property and life.
(ii) Individual’s general coping ability.
(iii) Stressful experiences before the disaster. For example, people who have experienced stress before may find it more difficult to deal with yet another difficult and stressful
situation.
The measures taken to avoid devastating consequences of traumatic events are:
(i) Warnings: When some natural disaster such as a flood is likely or cyclones or high tide is predicted, fishermen are asked not to venture into the sea.
(ii) Safety measures: Tips are given beforehand. For example, what to do when there is an earthquake.
(iii) Treatment of psychological disorders
(a) This involves providing material relief in the form of food, clothing, medical help, shelter and financial help.
(b) The next step involves counselling by encouraging the victims to talk about their experiences and emotional state. This can be done by providing psychiatric help to those showing extreme stress reactions.
(c) Rehabilitation in the form of employment and a gradual return to normal routine should be undertaken.
(d) Last but not the least, follow-up of the victims and survivors is needed to ensure that they have indeed recovered sufficiently from their traumatic experience.

Question. Discuss the psychological impact of television viewing on human behaviour. How can its adverse consequences be reduced? Explain.
Answer. Television provides a large amount of infotainment in an attractive form. Children spend huge amounts of time watching them. They have effect on children’s ability to concentrate on one target, their creativity and ability to understand, and also their social interactions. There are excellent programmes that emphasise positive interpersonal attitudes and provide factual information, teaching children how to design and construct certain objects.
On the other hand, television viewing reduces children’s habit of reading and writing, and also their outdoor activities such as playing. The programmes also interfere with their ability to concentrate on one target. Also, watching violence on television is linked to great aggressiveness in the viewers. But at the same time, studies show watching violence may actually reduce the natural aggressive tendency of the viewers what is ‘bottled up’ gets an outlet, and thus cleans the system, like a choked drainpipe being cleaned. This process is called catharsis.
It has been observed that in the case of both adults and children a consumerist attitude has developed, and this is due to television watching. Numerous products are advertised, and it is very natural for the viewer to get carried away.

CBSE Class 12 Psychology Chapter 8 Psychology And Life Objective Type Questions 

Question. Shortage of resources necessary for living refers to
(a) deprivation
(b) disadvantage
(c) poverty
(d) discrimination
Answer. C

Question. The study of the relationship between living beings and their environment is
(a) Biology
(b) Ecology
(c) Zoology
(d) None of the above
Answer. B

Question. The ability to put up with a situation in which individuals have to compete with many others for even basic resources, including physical space is
(a) competition
(b) crowding tolerance
(c) competition tolerance
(d) crowding
Answer. C

Question. A bully slaps a new student in school, so that s/he can snatch the newcomer’s chocolate is an example of:
(a) hostile aggression
(b) violence
(c) instrumental aggression
(d) aggression
Answer. C

Question. State in which a person feels s/he has lost something valuable and is not getting what s/he deserves is known as 
(a) discrimination
(b) deprivation
(c) Poverty
(d) disadvantage
Answer. B

Question. Match the following:
(i) Personal distance    (a) Teacher
(ii) Intimate distance    (b) Work setting
(iii) Public distance      (c) Close friend
(iv) Social distance      (d) Formal interaction, not close
Answer. (i)–(b), (ii)–(c), (iii)–(a), (iv)–(d)

Question. Dominating and bullying others without provocation is known as ___________.
Answer. Instrumental aggression

Question. Frustration-Aggression theory was proposed by _____________.
Answer. John Dollard

Question. Act of aggression meant to obtain a certain goal or object is known as _____________aggression.
Answer. Instrumental aggression

CBSE Class 12 Psychology Chapter 8 Psychology And Life Very Short Answer Questions

Question. Differentiate between natural and built environment.
Answer. Natural environment is part of nature untouched by human hand while environment created by human beings is called built environment. Cities, offices, bridges, roads, dams are examples of built environment.

Question. Explain minimalist perspective of human-environment relationship.
Answer. Minimalistic perspective assumes that physical environment has little or negligible influence on human behavior, health and well-being.

Question. Explain instrumental perspective of human-environment relationship.
Answer. According to Stokols, instrumental perspective assumes that physical environment exists for the comfort and well-being of human beings.

Question. Define environmental psychology.
Answer. Environmental psychology deals with issues pertaining to human environmental interaction.

Question. What is poverty cycle? 
Answer. Poverty cycle in which poverty begets poverty explains why poverty continues among the same sections of society. Due to low income and lack of resources, the poor go through low health and nutrition, lack of education and lack of skills. This leads to low employment opportunities, which, in turn, continue their low-income condition, and low health and nutrition status. The resulting lowered motivational level only makes the situation worse; the cycle starts and continues again.

Question. State the frustration-aggression theory.
Answer. People in frustrated situations show more aggression than those who are not frustrated. In an experiment children are frustrated by preventing them from getting attractive toys that are visible through a screen. These children are found to be more destructive than those children who are allowed to access the toys.

Question. What is the spiritual perspective of human-environment relationship?
Answer. Spiritual perspective refers to the environment as something to be respected or valued rather than exploited.

Question. Explain the term crowding.
OR
State the features of experiencing crowding.
Answer. Crowding is the person’s reaction to the presence of a large number of persons within a particular area or apace. When this number goes beyond a certain level, it becomes an environmental stressor and causes stress to individuals in that situation.
The experience of crowding causes
- a feeling of discomfort,
- loss or decrease in privacy,
- negative view of the space around the person and
- feeling of loss of control over social interaction.
For example, 15 people squeezing on 4 seats in a railway compartment experience crowding but the same 15 people in a marriage party do not experience crowding.

CBSE Class 12 Psychology Chapter 8 Psychology And Life Short Answer Questions-I

Question. What are the environmental effects on human behaviour?
Answer. The environmental effects on human behaviour are
(i) Environmental influences on perception: It has been observed that people living in circular huts show less error in Muller-Lyer illusion than people living in houses with angular walls.
(ii) Environmental influences on emotions: Living in the heart of nature has a positive effect on emotions while people suffering from natural disasters might show Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
(iii) Ecological influences on occupation, living style and attitudes: Members of an agricultural society develop an attitude of cooperativeness, and consider group interests more important than individual wishes, are closer to nature and are dependent on natural events. Members of industralised society are less close and less dependent on nature, value independent thinking develop an attitude of competitiveness and have personal control.

Question. State some of the psychological features of environmental design of Built Environment.
Answer. Human beings have shown creativity in the built environment as shown in:
(i) The creativity of the human mind as expressed in the work of architects, town planners and civil engineers.
(ii) The sense of human control as shown in building of dams to regulate the natural flow of rivers.
(iii) The work of architects as shown in the distance maintained between houses in the colony, location of rooms within a home, the arrangement of work-desks in a school or seats in an office.

Question. Why is the concept of personal space important for human beings?
Answer. (i) It explains many of the negative effects of crowding as an environmental stressor.
(ii) It tells us about our social relations. For example, we are most likely to sit beside a friend in a library.
(iii) It gives us some idea about how physical space can be modified in order to reduce stress or discomfort in social situations or to make social interaction more enjoyable and fruitful.

Question. How does spiritual perspective explain human-environment relationship?
Answer. Spiritual perspective refers to environment as something to be respected or valued rather than exploited. It implies that human beings will exist and will be happy only as long as the environment is kept healthy and natural.

CBSE Class 12 Psychology Chapter 8 Psychology And Life Short Answer Questions-II 

Question. Explain the interpersonal physical distance. 
Answer. Depending on the situation there are the following four kinds of interpersonal physical distance:
(i) Intimate distance (upto 18 inches): The distance you maintain when you are talking privately to someone, or interacting with a very close friend or relative.
(ii) Personal distance (18 inches to 4 feet): The distance you maintain when you are interacting one-to-one with a close friend, relative or even with someone not very close to you in a work setting or other social situation.
(iii) Social distance (4 to 10 feet): The distance you maintain when the interaction is formal, and not close.
(iv) Public distance (10 feet to infinity): The distance you maintain in a formal setting, when there are a large number of persons. For example, the distance of an audience from a public speaker, or a teacher in a classroom.

Question. What is the difference between deprivation and social disadvantage?
Answer. Deprivation refers to a state in which a person feels that s/he has lost something valuable and is not getting something what s/he deserves. Social disadvantage is a condition in which some sections of society are not allowed to enjoy the same privileges as the rest of the society. This distinction is seen in matters of social interaction, eduction and employment.

CBSE Class 12 Psychology Chapter 8 Psychology And Life Long Answer Questions

Question. What is Pollution? Highlight some of its impacts.
Answer. Environmental pollution is in the form of air, water or soil pollution which is caused by the smoke from vehicles or from the waste or garbage from industries and households.
The various effects are:
(i) Effects on our nervous system.
(ii) Emotional effects: It produces discomfort, decreased work efficiency, lowered interest in the job and increase in the anxiety level.
(iii) Presence of dust particles may produce suffocation, respiratory disorders and problems in focussing of attention.
(iv) People in industrial areas report greater tension and anxiety than in rural areas.
(v) The presence of sulphur-dioxide in the air decreases the ability to concentrate on a task lowering performance efficiency.
(vi) Pollution caused by leaks of dangerous chemical substances cause harm. For example, Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984 caused disturbances in memory, attention and alertness.
(vii) Tobacco intake can cause lung cancer to smokers or passive smokers and other serious psychological effects such as increase the aggression level in individuals.
(viii) Polluting substances in water and soil are hazardous for physical health and may even cause mental retardation by affecting brain development.
(ix) Non-biodegradable garbage or industrial waste such as tin, plastics affects us in a negative manner. It should be burned by special techniques and smoke should not be allowed to escape into the air.

Question. What are the effects of natural disasters?
Answer. The effects of natural disasters such as tsunamis, floods, cyclones and volcanic eruptions are:
(i) They leave people poverty-stricken, homeless, without any resources, usually with a loss of everything they owned.
(ii) The sudden loss of all their belongingness as well as their dear ones leaves people shocked and stunned.
This causes a disorder called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The features of PTSD are:
(i) People become disoriented by denying to themselves that something terrible has happened.
(ii) Physical reactions such as difficulty in sleeping, change in the eating pattern, increased heart-beat and blood pressure and getting startled easily is found among the victims.
(iii) Emotional reactions such as grief and fear, irritability, anger, helplessness, depression, sometimes absolute lack of emotion, guilt feelings for having survived while someone else in the family died, blaming oneself, and lack of interest in even routine activities.
(iv) Cognitive reactions such as worry, difficulty in concentration, reduced span of attention, confusion, loss of memory, unwanted vivid memories or nightmares of the event.
(v) Social reactions, such as withdrawal from others, getting into conflict with others, having frequent arguments with even loved ones and feeling rejected or left out.
Intensity of reaction in PTSD is affected by:
(i) Severity of the disorder and loss incurred both in terms of property and life.
(ii) Individual’s general coping ability.
(iii) Stressful experiences before the disaster. For example people who have experienced stress before may find it more difficult to deal with yet another difficult and stressful situation.

Question. Explain the situational factors leading to aggression.
Answer. Some of the situational factors causing aggression are
(i) Learning: Individuals exhibit aggression when such behavior is rewarded. For example, hostile aggression allows aggressive person to get what she wants. Also, aggression is learned through reinforcement or by observing others.
(ii) Observing an aggressive model: Observing a model especially on television may make a person aggressive.
(iii) Anger-provoking action by others: A person who is made to feel angry through insults or threats, physical aggression or dishonesty is likely to show aggression than who is not made to feel angry.
(iv) Availability of weapons: Aggression is more likely if weapons such as stick, pistol or knife are easily available.
(v) Personality factors: People with low self-esteem and those who feel insecure are more likely to show aggression.
(vi) Cultural factors: Individuals are more aggressive in cultures where aggressive behaviour is encouraged and praised rather than discouraged or criticised.

Question. How humans influence environment?
Answer. Human beings influence environment by the following ways:
(i) They have started building houses by changing natural environment for shelter.
(ii) Use of appliances such as refrigerators and ACs generate gases that pollute air which might cause deadly diseases such as cancer.
(iii) Smoking, burning of plastics and metal articles have disastrous polluting effects.
(iv) Deforestation disrupt the carbon and water cycle which affect the pattern of rainfall and increase soil erosion.
(v) Industrial wastes have negative physical and psychological consequences.
(vi) Noise pollution, crowding and natural disasters are examples of environmental stressors that create stress in human beings.

Question. What are the effects of noise on human behaviour? 
Answer. Any annoying or irritating sound or exposure to noise can create unpleasant mood, hearing loss, negative effects on mental activity due to lack of concentration. The effects of noise on human behaviour are:
(i) Simple task: When the task being performed is a simple mental task such as addition of numbers, noise does not affect overall performance whether it is loud or soft. In such situations, people adapt or ‘get used’ to noise.
(ii) Interesting task: If the task being performed is very interesting, the presence of noise does not affect performance.
(iii) Predictability of noise: When the noise comes at intervals and in an unpredictable way, it is experienced more disturbing than if the noise is continuously present.
(iv) Difficulty of task: When the task being performed is difficult, or requires full concentration, then intense, unpredictable, and uncontrollable noise reduces the level of task performance.
(v) Controllability of noise: When tolerating or switching off the noise is within the control of the person, the number of errors in task performance decreases.
(vi) Intensity of noise: Above a certain level noise can lead to annoyance or even sleep disturbances.
(vii) Emotional effects of loud noise: Noise above a certain level causes annoyance, and can also lead to sleep disturbance.

Important Notes for Class 12 Psychology Chapter 8 Psychology and Life

Chapter At A Glance

The term ‘environment’ comes from the Medieval French ‘environ’ meaning to form a ring around or to surround. Environmental psychology addresses environmental problems such as density and crowding, noise, pollution and sub-standard living. Environmental stressors are temperature, chemical pollutants and noise. Chemical pollutants; contaminant land, air, or water system that can cause serious biological impacts on living organisms. Chemical pollution enhances environmental and health care costs. Landfills filled with toxic and hazardous litter, pollutants from industrial plants, and chemical emissions from trucks are only few of the types of chemical pollution that pose extreme risks to one’s health.Noise and unwanted sound are also stressors. For example, at home, this could be the sound of children playing and laughing too loud, the television and radio going at the same time, or the noise of all the appliances running in the kitchen. The effects that this could have on a person would be a child trying to do homework with all the sounds around him who would have a harder time completing the assignment than if the house or room were silent. Noise, therefore, can be considered a pollutant, a potential deterrent to normal interactions with one’s environment and a possible source of stress. Thus, strategies to manage such environmental stressors like temperature, chemical pollutants, and noise are necessary to prevent major health problems.
Temperature and noise are two environmental stressors that may lead to decrease in performance, cognitive functioning, and concentration. Managing temperature and noise stressors are an essential component to improving performance, cognitive functioning, and concentration. Managing the above environmental stressors is not only important in one’s personal life but also in one’s professional life. Many individuals work outdoors and are exposed to the elements on a regular basis. Environmental psychologists recognize the effect temperature and noise may have and have devised a plan to combat. They developed three approaches to managing stress: First focus on the stress itself; second, assume the stress is the direct result of the environmental stressor and focus on skill training; third effectively use group resources to manage stress. The first approach manages environmental stress by introducing breathing and relaxation exercises. In instances of temperature, dressing for the elements may manage the temperature stressor. For noise related stress, reducing exposure to the noise (e.g. noise reducing equipment) may manage the noise stressor. Second, assuming that fluctuations in temperature and noise are unavoidable, the focus rests on skill training. Temperature and noise should not faze an individual who is competent and capable of performing the task at hand. The third plan is to use effectively group resources such as superiors, co-workers or trained support staff.

Long answer type questions:-

Q1 What are the psychological effects that an individual may go through due to the following?

(a) Natural Disasters

(b) Crowding

Q2. What is aggression? Explain the causes that may lead to Aggression.

Q3. “Several steps have been taken by government and other NGO’s for reduction and alleviation of Poverty”. Explain these steps in detail.

Q4. “Post traumatic stress disorder is severe psychological problem that results from traumatic events. Explain its features in detail.

Q5. Explain the process of treatment of psychological disorders that are caused due to environmental changes?

Q6. How can you develop a pro-environmental behaviour to promote a healthy atmosphere for living?

Q7. What impact does television have on the psychological being of an individual?

Q8. The understanding of health has undergone a major change in recent times. Now, it is not limited its diseases only but also thinking and behaviour”. Comment.

Q9. What do you understand by environmental psychology? Explain the different views of the Human Environmental relationships?

Q10. State the six principles given in the Chipko Movement memorandum.