Psychology: Learned Helplessness Experiments

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Questions and Answers

What is a problem with experiments using human participants in learned helplessness research?

Providing clear rewards for all participants

Confounding uncontrollability and failure (correct)

Yoking all participants

Using the same instructions for all participants

Which of the following is NOT a problem with experiments using human participants in learned helplessness research?

Yoking producing 'illusion of control'

All participants receiving the same treatment (correct)

Using different instructions for all participants

Amount and pattern of reinforcement

What is an alternative account of human helplessness, besides learned helplessness?

Reactance (correct)

Conditioned attention

Yoking

Learned optimism

What was the uncontrollable stimulus used in Hiroto & Seligman's 1975 experiments?

Loud irritating noise Signup and view all the answers

Who is the author of the book 'Helplessness' published in 1975?

M.E.P. Seligman Signup and view all the answers

What is a problem with using yoking in experiments on learned helplessness?

It may produce an 'illusion of control' Signup and view all the answers

What was the main difference between Group 1 and Group 2 in Hiroto & Seligman's 1975 experiments?

The ability to control the noise Signup and view all the answers

What is another term for the concept of 'secondary control'?

Cognitive exhaustion Signup and view all the answers

What was the problem with the induction procedures used in Hiroto & Seligman's 1975 experiments?

They confounded various extraneous variables with uncontrollability Signup and view all the answers

Who proposed the concept of 'state vs action orientation' as an alternative account of human helplessness?

J. Kuhl Signup and view all the answers

What was the significance of Winefield's 1982 study in relation to Hiroto & Seligman's 1975 experiments?

It used similar procedures to study human helplessness Signup and view all the answers

What was the main research question addressed in Hiroto & Seligman's 1975 experiments?

Can learned helplessness be shown in humans? Signup and view all the answers

What is the title of the book published in 1993 by C. Peterson, S.F. Maier, and M.E.P. Seligman?

Learned Helplessness Signup and view all the answers

What was the purpose of the puzzles in Hiroto & Seligman's 1975 experiments?

To provide a sense of control or no control over the noise Signup and view all the answers

What is the main limitation of Hiroto & Seligman's 1975 experiments?

The results are open to alternative explanations Signup and view all the answers

What was the significance of Hiroto & Seligman's 1975 experiments in the context of learned helplessness?

They showed that learned helplessness can be demonstrated in humans Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Learned Helplessness Experiments with Human Participants

Associate Professor Carla Litchfield is the course coordinator for Biological and Learning Psychology.

Subsequent Research Questions

Can learned helplessness be shown in humans?
Can learned helplessness be shown with non-aversive outcomes (in humans or other animals)?

Hiroto & Seligman's 1975 Experiments

Used human participants with a loud irritating noise as the uncontrollable stimulus.
Participants were told the noise would stop if they solved a puzzle correctly.
Group 1: could press buttons to turn off the noise (could control environment).
Group 2: given puzzles that could not be solved (could not control environment).

Criticisms of Hiroto & Seligman's 1975 Experiments

Used 4 experiments with 2 induction procedures (instrumental & cognitive) and 2 test tasks (instrumental & cognitive).
Problems with the experiments: induction procedures confounded various extraneous variables with uncontrollability, leading to questions about the validity of the results.

Problems with Experiments Using Human Participants

Amount and pattern of reinforcement don't all use yoking.
Yoking may produce 'illusion of control'.
Some experiments used different instructions.
Perceived success/failure: most experiments confound uncontrollability and failure.
Predictability/unpredictability: difficult to separate experimentally.
People don't just give up altogether (like most dogs did).

Other Accounts of Human Helplessness

Reactance (Brehm, 1966).
Hypothesis testing (Levine et al., 1978).
Egotism (Frankel & Snyder, 1978).
State vs Action Orientation (Kuhl, 1981).
Cognitive exhaustion (Sedek & Kofta, 1990).
Secondary control (Rothbaum et al., 1982).
Conditioned inattention (Lubow et al., 1981).

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Description

Quiz on learned helplessness experiments with human participants, covering subsequent research questions and exploring the concept in biological and learning psychology.