NPTEL-Developing Soft Skills And Personality Week- Assignment Answer

  Week 3: Assignment 3

                                                 ANSWERS

 1)Who among the following made the quote: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit?” 

 Dalai Lama

 Marshall McLuhan

 Abdul Kalam

 R. K. Narayan

 Aristotle

 Bluma Zeigarnik

1 point

2)If the maxim: “Circumstance do not make a man; it reveals him,” were to be true, which one of the following rejoinders should follow William Golding’s assertion: “The Beast is within us?”: 

 It can destroy ourselves as well as our enemies. 

 You need to channel its energies in the right direction. 

 God is also within us.  

 We can only hope it does not damage us. 

 It brings out the best in us. 

 It can help us overcome our difficulties. 

1 point

3)If one is under a lot of stress, sometimes one takes to smoking. What is the role that Dopamine plays in choosing to smoke when one is stressed out? 

 Dopamine makes one think clearly and removes one’s sense of guilt or regret. 

 Dopamine transports one to the 1940’s, when people were misled by the notion that smoking is good for the health. 

 Dopamine makes one’s brain slow down, due to which they make strange decisions like smoking. 

 Dopamine induces feelings of pleasure, and it can get stimulated by the use of some drugs or due to certain bad habits. Therefore, when a person smokes, Dopamine negates the stress with feelings of pleasure, due to which the person is likely to repeat the process the next time. 

 When a person smokes, dopamine gets released, that helps them stay away from alcohol. The body likes this and remembers this, and the next time they are stressed the body seeks out the comfort of smoking, again. 

1 point

4)How does the Zeigarnik Effect impact the human mind? 

 It makes the mind think about an unfinished task, especially, when it is about to begin a new task. 

 It makes the mind idle till the time available for the completion of a job. 

 It makes the mind seek pain and accept it as part of life. 

 It makes the mind hyperactive and do multitasking easily. 

 It makes the mind delusional and stop doing any work. 

 It makes the mind ecstatic and makes one forget about the job-stress. 

1 point

5)Which aspect of the Zeigarnik Effect makes it dangerous for one to start watching a television series? 

 The serial killer effect. 

 The insomniac and sleep-walking effect. 

 The anxiety triggered in the brain till the entire story is known. 

 The depression created in the brain by the inevitable turn of events. 

 The hang-over created in the brain once the show is over. 

 The virtual reality it makes us inhabit. 

1 point

6)In order to manage a task efficiently, which one of the following is a healthy practice to acquire? 

 Always follow social expectations when it comes to life choices. 

 Look for quick means of pleasuring yourself when you feel stressed. 

 Leave a task halfway if it gets complicated, and take up something else that is easy. 

 Do as much work as you possibly can, without bothering about the quality. 

 Never leave a task unfinished, so that you can concentrate fully on each task at hand.

 Wait for the right mood to finish a long-pending task. 

1 point

7)Which of the following is the most crucial one about bad habits?

 Nobody cares whether you have good habits or bad habits if you are doing well in life. 

 Unless everybody else around us stop pursuing their bad habits, there is no point in doing anything about our own bad habits. 

 It is very important to stop a bad habit formation right at the start. 

 Good and bad habits are just social perceptions, it is not important to pay attention to them. 

 It is impossible to form good habits unless you are encouraged by your peers. 

 Bad habits are as simple to form as they are simple to break. 

1 point

8)Which of the following is a good habit in conflict resolution? 

 Isolate the most vulnerable individual among the conflicting parties and abuse them. 

 Invite everyone to a boxing match.

 Be as sarcastic as possible. 

 Hear both sides of the conflict properly, before attempting any mediation. 

 Make them read and memorize good slogans from holy books. 

 Threaten both parties with dire consequence. 

1 point

9)You have the habit of staying up late and binge-watch shows on OTT/TV. This is taking a toll on your health and studies. Identify the way in which you can change this? 

 Start skipping your dinner and eat junk food whenever you feel hungry. 

 Start doing heavy workout while watching the serials. 

 Switch from binge-watching OTT/TV shows to surfing social media. 

 Take sleeping-pills to get deep sleep at night. 

 Gradually lessen your consumption of OTT/TV shows and bring your bedtime up by half an hour every night. 

 Avoid sleeping in the night-time altogether. Compensate by sleeping in the daytime. 

1 point

10)A youngster you know has developed the bad habit of consuming a lot of chocolates whenever she feels depressed. Identify the worst possible way to get her out of her habit. 

 Explain to her why consuming too many chocolates is bad for her health. 

 Get her to smoke cigarettes instead of consuming chocolates. 

 Get her to do exercise, instead of consuming chocolates. 

 Ask her to take deep breaths and practice meditation. 

 Ask her to talk to her best friends whenever she is upset. 

 Ask her to read some books, to distract herself from sad thoughts. 

1 point

11)Which of the following are true about habits? 

 It is easy to form bad habits 

 It is easy to form good habits 

 It is easy to break bad habits 

 It is difficult to form bad habits 

 It is difficult to form good habits 

 Bad habits are easily formed, and they are easy to break. 

1 point

12)Which of the following are part of the habit cycle? 

 Thought/Stimulus

 Action/Reaction 

 Reward/Punishment 

 Success/Failure 

 Activation/Depression 

 Character/Personality 

1 point

13)Which one of the following are true about bad habits? 

 Bad habits, such as eating junk food, are extremely easy to form but bad for your health. 

 Whether you call a habit bad or good, ultimately boils down to social conventions. 

 People normally show off their bad habits. 

 Bad habits ultimately have a telling effect on your health (mental or physical). 

 It is better to nip a bad habit in the bud itself. 

 Evaluating habits as good or bad is judgmental and intrusive. 

1 point

14)Dopamine is: 

 a neurotransmitter of the human brain

 a chemical associated with pain 

 linked with motivation and reward 

 responsible for inducing grief 

 responsible for inducing pleasure 

 released every time you feel joyful about something you have done – good, or bad 

1 point

15)Aravind reaches for his cigarette just before there is a class presentation, every time, because he has social anxiety. Identify the following ways in which he can break this toxic pattern, that does nothing other than harm his health: 

 Understand and accept that negative experiences are a part of one’s life.  

 Remember that being nervous is for losers and weak people.

 Cigarettes are way too expensive. One needs to find cheaper drugs. 

 Accept that facing one’s fears is a part of one’s personality development. 

 Understand that reaching for a cigarette is a shortcut and a momentary escape that does not help in the long run. 

 Understand that patience and perseverance are keys for overcoming one’s perceived shortcoming. 

1 point

16)In which ways can you use Zeigarnik Effect productively? 

 If you find yourself procrastinating on any specific task, just start it somehow. The Zeigarnik Effect will then help your brain to pursue it till its completion. 

 Do not start a tele-serials or video games since the Zeigarnik Effect will kick in and make you waste a large amount of time behind it.

 The Zeigarnik Effect allows you to pursue recreational drugs, since you can get pleasured by them but not addicted to them. 

 Internalisation of the Zeigarnik Effect can give you the much-needed intrinsic motivation to achieve or excel in any activity.  

 The Zeigarnik Effect helps you develop good sleep patterns. 

 The Zeigarnik Effect helps you be decisive, when you feel confused. 

1 point

17)Your roommate is addicted to caffeine. Choose the most appropriate and effective ways in which you will get him to break his overdependence on the substance. 

 Mix some baking soda in his coffee. 

 Hide his coffee jar. 

 Get him to reduce his frequency of coffee intake. 

 Tell him his breath smells bad after coffee. 

 Counsel him on why too much of dependence on caffeine is bad. 

 Get him to try some green tea, and gradually make him lower his caffeine intake that way. 

1 point

18)Which one of the following are unhelpful in forming good habits?

 Think about the bigger picture, and do not seek short term pleasures. 

 Follow your temptations because you only live once. 

 Break down big tasks into small manageable chunks. 

 Utilize the dopamine that the brain releases after completing every small step. 

 Listen to your peers, do whatever they say without bothering about its long-term effect on your mind and body. 

 Do not allow boredom or lethargy to set in. 

1 point

19)Which of the following are examples of good habits?

 Brushing teeth twice a day 

 Smoking once a day 

 Binge-watching television shows 

 Washing your clothes regularly

 Keeping your room clean 

 Exercising regularly 

1 point

20)You have the habit of losing concentration from the task at hand. Identify some of the techniques you can use to be able to sit and finish your work at a stretch? 

 Keep your phone on silent mode. 

 Stay away from the internet for any other purpose than your work. 

 Allow yourself to daydream and procrastinate.

 Post on social media that you are working very hard. 

 Choose a comfortable spot where you can sit at a stretch and work. 

 Watch your favorite movie hoping that your favorite hero will give you the motivation. 

1 point

21)Bad habits, if replaced by good habits, can be easily removed without any trace. 

 True

 False

1 point

22)Habits do not depend on peer group influence and/or environment.

 True

 False

1 point

23)Visualizing a fulfilling and meaningful life for the future is one of the ways of countering a bad habit under the influence of dopamine. 

 True

 False

1 point

24)Dopamine forms a crucial role in forming addictive habits, irrespective of whether they are good or bad. 

 True

 False

1 point

25)Preconceived opinions are the most important requirements for being a good listener.

 True

 False