Habits are the form of learned behaviour. They play an important in our daily life. All of us acquire some habits which contribute to our health, happiness and efficiency. The habits of being punctual, of being hardworking, of being honest and co-operative. In the course of our experience and we grow, we acquire habits of dressing in certain manner at certain times, of walking, of speaking, of bathing, of sleeping, of eating, of writing, of speaking, of thinking, of being euthusiastic about certain things or being hopeful. Truly we are all creatures of habits, our personality and character lose their content and cannot be visual with out habits.
HABITS ARE OF TWO PARTS:-
1. Good Habits:- Those habits which are socially desirable are called good habits like morning walk, studying, to speak less etc.
2. Bad Habits:-Those habits which are not socially desirable are bad habits like stealing, drinking, abusing, more speaking etc.
Habit is derived from a Latin word habitus means to acquire something. It means that acquiring any object or action or reaction.
"Habit is a tendency of the organism to behave in the same way as it behaved before." -James
"Habit is fixed channel of activity." - Skinner
"Habits is a customary pattern of behavioural, congitive and emotional response."-Eysenck
"Habits are integrated system of conditioned reflexes." -Watson
"Habit is well learned activity."-Woodworth
"Habit is that form of behaviour which through repetition has become so perfect that it is requires no change."-Gate and Jersild
"Habit is the final stage of learning."-Osgood
TYPES OF HABITS
We may form bodily habits or motor habits, intellectual habits and habits of character or emotional habits.
Motor or bodily habits: include the habitual way of walking, speaking, sitting, standing and others. Intellectual habits mean habits of thought and perception. Some people have formed habits of accurate observation, of thinking logically and independently or a habit of seeking for reason and causes or of testing their conclusion. All these are intellectual habits. Habits of character, or emotional habits, refer to out habitual ways of feeling. They are called habits of character because they form an important part of our character. The habit of speaking in a friendly way, being interested in other people being honest, hard working and happy are habits of character. Humans are endowed with a capacity to from habits and we can plan to form good ones. To help us to form good habits is one of the tastes of education.
FORMATION OF HABITS
William james has describe four laws of habit formation:
1. Begin a new habit with strong and determined initiative: Any behaviour which we desire to turn into some good habits should be started with commitment and strong efforts. Once the start will be good and it will become a habit.
For example- Morning walk with full excitement to oneself and regularity will become habit.
2. Never allow an exception to occur till new habit is formed: In the formation of habit continuity and regularity is very essential. Any break in that regularity will turn down the formation of habit.
For example- If morning walk is discontinued for five six days then it is possible that later on three will be permanent break.
3. Seize the opportunity to Act: It means that once that decision is taken to develop a habit it should not be delayed to bring in practical. Delaying with unnecessary excues will turn into inhibition to perform that activity.
For example- A person decides to go for morning walk daily but keeping out on postponing results into never start activity.
4. Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little exercise everyday: It simply refers to practice to the activity desired to develop as habit. Thorndike's law exercise also tells that if some activity is repeated again and again it is learnt and habit is the final stage of learning.
5. Start as early in life as possible: It is well known fact that activities learn in childhood never fade away. So it is important to start developing good habits in early childhood. Such habits will be more permanent and stable.
For example- Good study habit in childhood help in future.
6. Use of rewards and punishment: Any response, which results in to some kind of reward or benefits is repeated again and again to become the habit. So good desirable behaviour should be rewarded to develop as good habits.
For example-
1. Helping others should be rewarded to make a habit. Fear of punishment can also sometimes help information of habits.
2. Fear of punishment from teacher can develop the habit of doing home work daily.
7. Emotional arousal: Emotional arousal for certain activities can help in formation of habits.
For example- Emotionally arousing a student to work hard for exam, can help to form good habits.
8. Conditioning: Conditioning is a method of associating certain stimulus with a particular response.
For example- Smoking can be associated with a feeling of fear, lying down on the ground when feeling etc.
ADVANTAGES OF HABITS
Good habits are great utility in the life of a person. Its help the person in different corners of life to get success and to adjust effectively in the environment. According to William james, "Habits are flywheel of society." Various traditions, custom and heritage depends upon the habits formed. Its helps in following ways:
1. Personality development.
2. Character development.
3. Adjustment with environment and society.
4. Progress in life.
5. Comfort and peace in life.
6. Facility and accuracy in life.
7. Regulated life.
8. Increase in speed of execution of a work.
9. Traits of patience and tolerance.
10. Always go right direction.
DISADVANTAGES OF HABITS
Habit can control us to such an extent that we may become their slaves. When we become their slaves, we lose the power of adapting ourselves to new situation. We cannot learn newer things. Our initiative, resources and our sensibilities become weak. Those who live by habits alone have mechanical character.
Some people cling habits to such an extent that if their habits or behaviour patterns are interfered with, they feel disturbed. This is often true of old people as well as of some patients in wards. They have formed certain habits of sleeping, eating and daily routine, and it is difficult for them to change. They feel resentful and distressed if they are forced to change their habits. No account of reasoning or coaxing will make them after their daily fixed plans to which they are so habitutated. When this happens, habits are regarded as "tyrannical" or "cruel".
JAMES' MAXIMS OR LAWS OF HABIT FORMATION
William james' one of the greatest psychologists of America, has drawn our attention to the following maxims or laws of habit forming:
1. In order to form a habit we should make a strong start. We should launch ourselves with as strong and decide an initiative as posible. We should start with determination and must feel the strong need of making the new habit as part of our mental equipment.
2. We should not allow any exception to occur till the new habit is firmly rooted in our life. Lapse should not be allowed to occur postponement of practice and permission of exception hinder the building of a new habit.
3. We should seize all possible opportunities that help in the formation of a habit and avoid those which do not help.
For example- to form the habit of waking up early in the morning, I should start immediately and try to be in the company of students who have formed this habit. I should decline all mid week invitations if I want to form the habit of studing in the evening and get down to study promptly after dinner.
4. We should practice the new habit. Mere resolution or dertermination will not be sufficient. We need faithful, persistent day-by-day practice until the desired goal has been achieved.
BREAKING BAD HABITS
Sometimes, we develop useless or undesirable habits such as being careless, being negligent of important tasks, or of bring extravagant. To break undesirable habits we require the same rules as we use in forming because in reality the removal of a bad habit in place of the old bad one we should start with a determination to break the old undesirable habit. Some people find help in a promise made in public or before others. We have to unlearn and relearn the good "counter habit" and must be ethusiastic about it. Let the old habit have no scope the new habit have ample scope for expression and exercise. Let us make no exception until after the old habit, has been completely broken and the new one firmly established, Again we should make a start immediately. If we have decided to break a bad habit we should start right now.
We should try to reform the bad habit as well by using its energy for ends which are useful and desirable.
For example- A boastful person may transform his selfish boasting as an individual into propaganda channels boasting the excellence of his community, school, country or cause (Jalota). This way of reforming bad habits is known as sublimation.
CHARCTERISTICS OF HABITS
1. Task or behavior associated with habits take little time to be completed.
2. One does not have to pay much attention to the work associated with habit because it continues to happen automatically.
3. The work is easily completed by habits.
4. People find the habit intersting.
