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LearnedHelplessness

LearnedHelplessness
Doggies
University of Pennsylvania: Learned Helplessness Homepage
Bibliography
Optimism

Course

Inearly1965,MartinE.P.Seligmanandhiscollegues,whilestudyingthe
relationshipbetweenfearandlearning,accidentallydiscoveredanunexpected
phenomenonwhiledoingexperimentsondogsusingPavlovian(classical
conditioning).Asyoumayobserveinyourselvesoradog,whenyouarepresented
withfood,youhaveatendencytosalivate.Pavlovdiscoveredthatifaringingbell
ortoneisrepeatedlypairedwiththispresentationoffood,thedogsalivates.Later,
allyouhavetodoisringthebellandthedogsalivates.However,inSeligman's
experiment,insteadofpairingthetonewithfood,hepaireditwithaharmless
shock,restrainingthedoginahammockduringthelearningphase.Theidea,then,
wasthatafterthedoglearnedthis,thedogwouldfeelfearonthepresentationofa
tone,andwouldthenrunawayordosomeotherbehavior.
Next,theyputtheconditioneddogintoashuttlebox,whichconsistsofalowfence
dividingtheboxintotwocompartments.Thedogcaneasilyseeoverthefence,
andjumpoverifitwishes.Sotheyrangthebell.Surprisingly,nothinghappened!
(Theywereexpectingthedogtojumpoverthefence.)Then,theydecidedto
shocktheconditioneddog,andagainnothinghappened!Thedogjustpathetically
laidthere!Hey,what'sgoing!Whentheyputanormaldogintotheshuttlebox,
whoneverexperiencedinescapableshock,thedog,asexpected,immediately
jumpedoverthefencetotheotherside.Apparently,whattheconditioneddog
learnedinthehammock,wasthattryingtoescapefromtheshocksisfutile.This
doglearnedtobehelpless!ThisresultwasoppositetothatpredictedbyB.F.
Skinner'sbehaviorism,whicharguedthatthedogmusthavebeengivenapositive
reward(likeayummydogbiscuit)tojustliethere.(Inordertosalvagetheir
position,theyevenwentsofarastosuggestthatthecessationofpainactedasthe
rewardforthedogtosit,butthiswasnotaverygoodargument.Onecould
alternatelyarguethatwhentheshockwentonwhilethedogwassitting,itwas
beingpunishedforsitting.Remindsmeofthatoldjoke,"Q:Whydidtheman
poundhisthumbwithahammer?A:Becauseitfeltsogoodtostop.)These
observationsstartedascientificrevolutionresultinginthedisplacementof
behaviorismbycognitivepsychology.Whatyouarethinking,determinesyour
behavior(notonlythevisiblerewardsorpunishments).
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Thetheoryoflearnedhelplessnesswasthenextendedtohumanbehavior,
providingamodelforexplainingdepression,astatecharacterizedbyalackof
affectandfeeling.Depressedpeoplebecamethatwaybecausetheylearnedtobe
helpless.Depressedpeoplelearnedthatwhatevertheydid,isfutile.Duringthe
courseoftheirlives,depressedpeopleapparentlylearnedthattheyhaveno
control.

Learnedhelplessnessexplainedalotofthings,butthenresearchersbegantofind
exceptions,ofpeoplewhodidnotgetdepressed,evenaftermanybadlife
experiences.Seligmandiscoveredthatadepressedpersonthoughtaboutthebad
eventinmorepessimisticwaysthananondepressedperson.Hecalledthis
thinking,"explanatorystyle,"borrowingideasfromattributiontheory.

Forexample,letssayyoufailamathexam.Howdoyouexplainwhy?Youcould
think:1)Iamstupid.2)I'mnotgoodinmath.3)Iwasunlucky,itwasFridaythe
13th.4)Themathteacherisprejudiced.5)Themathteachergradeshard.6)I
wasfeelingillthatday.7)Themathteachergaveanexpeciallyhardtestthistime.
8)Ididn'thavetimetostudy.9)Theteachergradesonacurve.Seligmanfound
thattheseexplanationscouldberatedalongthreedimensions:personalization:
internalvs.external,pervasiveness:specificvs.universal,andpermanence:
temporaryvs.permanent.Hefoundthatthemostpessimisticexplanatorystyleis
correlatedwiththemostdepression:Thestatement"Iamstupid"isclassifiedas
internal(useofI),universal,andpermanent.Thisresponseconveysasenseof
discouragement,hopelessness,anddespair.Ontheotherhand,amoreoptimistic
personwouldblamesomeoneorsomethingelse,suchas"Themathteachergave
anespeciallyhardtestthistime."Themostoptimisticexplanatorystyleisexternal,
specificandtemporary.Conversely,foragoodevent,theexplanatorystyle
reverses.Forexample,foraperfectscoreonthemathexam,thedepressivewould
say:"Iwasluckythatday,"discountinghisintelligence.Theoptimistwouldsay
somethingmuchmoreencouraging,suchas"Iamsmart."Weoftenlearn
explanatorystylesfromourparents.

Thereareadvantagestobothoptimisticandpessimisticexplanatorystyles.Certain
jobscallforanoptimisticoutlook,suchasinventingorsales.Otherjobs,suchas
accountingorqualitycontrol,callforamorepessimisticoutlook.

Seligmansuggestsinhisbook"LearnedOptimism"thatonecanovercome
depressionbylearningnewexplanatorystyles.Thisisthebasisofcognitive
therapy.Insuchtherapies,thecounselorchallengestheclient'sbeliefsand
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explanationsoflife'sevents.Ifyoufeeldepressedbecauseyoufailedthatlast
exam,thendisputetheexplanation,andlearnorsearchforamoreoptimisticone
accordingtotheabovecriteria.Orreadafewjokes.Thewholeselfhelpmovement
isbasedontheoptimisticbeliefthatwecanchangeourselvesforthebetter.

BibliographyofMartinE.P.Seligman
(SearchoftheLibraryofCongress)
1.95122881:Seligman,MartinE.P.Helplessness:ondepression,
development,anddeath/NewYork:W.H.Freeman,c1992.xxxv,250p.;
23cm.
LCCALLNUMBER:BF575.H4S441992
2.9427953:Rosenhan,DavidL.Abnormalpsychology/3rded.NewYork:
W.W.Norton,c1995.p.cm.
CIPNOTYETINLC
3.941043:Explanatorystyle/Hillsdale,N.J.:L.Erlbaum,1995.viii,
303p.;24cm.
LCCALLNUMBER:BF637.C45E931995
4.9314757:Seligman,MartinE.P.Whatyoucanchangeandwhatyoucan't:
thecompleteguidetosuccessfulselfimprovement/1sted.NewYork:
Knopf,1994.x,317p.;24cm.
LCCALLNUMBER:BF637.C4S451994
5.9221473:Peterson,Christopher.Learnedhelplessness:atheoryforthe
ageofpersonalcontrol/NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1993.xi,
359p.:ill.;24cm.
LCCALLNUMBER:BF575.H4P481993
6.9134235:Seligman,MartinE.P.Learnedoptimism/NewYork,N.Y.:
PocketBooks,c1990[i.e.1992]319p.;21cm.
NOTINLCCOLLECTION
7.9053075:Seligman,MartinE.P.Learnedoptimism/NewYork:A.A.Knopf,
1991.319p.;25cm.
LCCALLNUMBER:BJ1477.S451990
8.8828908:Rosenhan,DavidL.Abnormalpsychology/2nded.NewYork:
W.W.Norton,c1989.xxiii,766p.:ill.;27cm.
LCCALLNUMBER:RC454.R5781989
9.8325523:Rosenhan,DavidL.Abnormalpsychology/1sted.NewYork:
Norton,c1984.xxiii,728p.:ill.;27cm.
NOTINLCCOLLECTION
10.796773:Humanhelplessness:theoryandapplications/NewYork:
AcademicPress,1980.xvii,402p.;24cm.
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LCCALLNUMBER:BF575.H4H85

11.775032:Psychopathology:experimentalmodels/SanFrancisco:W.H.
Freeman,c1977.474p.:ill.;25cm.

LCCALLNUMBER:RC458.P78

12.7423125:Seligman,MartinE.P.Helplessness:ondepression,

development,anddeath/SanFrancisco:W.H.Freeman;NewYork:trade

distributor,Scribner,[1975]xv,250p.;24cm.

LCCALLNUMBER:BF575.H4S44

13.7284059:Seligman,MartinE.P.,comp.Biologicalboundariesoflearning.

NewYork,AppletonCenturyCrofts[1972]xi,480p.illus.25cm.

LCCALLNUMBER:LB1051.S412

Lastupdated22January1998

Copyright1998byDuenHsiYen,Allrightsreserved.

Email:yen@noogenesis.com

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