Cited by 2,494Memory and Neural MechanismsAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesStress Responses and Cortisol

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Learned helplessness: Theory and evidence

Maier, Steven F., Seligman, Martin E.·1976·Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

DOI 10.1037/0096-3445.105.1.3

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Abstract

\, SUMMARY In 1967, Overmier and Seligman found that dogs exposed to inescapable and unavoidable electric shocks in one situation later failed to learn to escape shock in a different situation where escape was possible. Shortly thereafter Seligman and Maier (1967) demonstrated that this effect was caused by the uncontrollability of the original shocks. In this article we review the effects of exposing organisms to aversive events which they cannot control, and we review the explanations which have been offered. There seem to be motivational, cognitive, and emotional effects of uncontrollability. (a) Motivation. Dogs that have been exposed to inescapable shocks do not subsequently initiate escape response in the presence of shock. We review parallel phenomena in cats, fish, rats, and man. Of particular interest is the discussion of learned helplessness in rats and man. Rats are of interest because learned helplessness has been difficult to demonstrate in rats. However, we show that inescapably shocked rats do fail to learn to escape if the escape task is reasonably difficult. With regard to man, we review a variety of studies using inescapable noise and unsolvable problems as agents which produce learned helplessness effects on both instrumental and cognitive tasks, (b) Cognition. We argue that exposure to uncontrollabl e events interferes with the organism's tendency to perceive contingent relationships between its behavior and outcomes. Here we review a variety of studies showing such a cognitive set. (c) Emotion. We review a variety of experiments which show that uncontrollable aversive events produce greater emotional disruption than do controllable aversive events. We have proposed an explanation for these effects, which we call the learned helplessness hypothesis. It argues that when events are uncontrollable the organism learns that its behavior and outcomes are independent, and that this learning produces the motivational, cognitive, and emotional effects of uncontrollabi lity. We describe the learned helplessness hypothesis and research which supports it. Finally, we describe and discuss in detail alternative hypotheses which have been offered as accounts of the learned helplessness effect. One set of hypotheses argues that organisms learn motor responses during exposure to uncontrollabl e shock that compete with the response required in the test task. Another explanation holds that uncontrollable shock is a severe stressor and depletes a neurochemical necessary for the mediation of movement. We examine the logical structure of these explanations and present a variety of evidence which bears on them directly.

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Authors: Maier, S. F., & Seligman, M. E.
Affiliations: University of Colorado Boulder (US)
ORCID: Maier, Steven F.
Seligman, Martin E.
Venue: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1976-03
Volume: 105
Issue: 1
Pages: 3-46
ISSN: 0096-3445 (ISSN-L)
1939-2222
DOI: 10.1037/0096-3445.105.1.3
OpenAlex: W2022987442
Semantic Scholar: bd0b38c23bb66a0762b0023b0306c86411f47edc
Cited by: 2,494
References: 131
Citations by year: 2026: 105 · 2025: 85 · 2024: 92 · 2023: 75 · 2022: 105 · 2021: 90 · 2020: 78 · 2019: 81 · 2018: 64 · 2017: 68 · 2016: 56 · 2015: 69 · 2014: 63 · 2013: 66 · 2012: 69
FWCI: 35.90
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Journal of Experimental Psychology General (publishedVersion)
Topics: Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
Keywords: learned helplessness, uncontrollability, inescapable shock, escape learning, motivation, cognitive set, stress, rats, human, unsolvable problems, noise aversion

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Learned helplessness: Theory and evidence

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