Cited by 896Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesMemory and Neural MechanismsNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

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Generality of learned helplessness in man.

Hiroto, Donald S., Seligman, Martin E.·1975·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

DOI 10.1037/h0076270

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Abstract

Learned helplessness, the interference with instrumental responding following inescapable aversive events, has been found in animals and man. This study tested for the generality of the debilitation produced by uncontrollabl e events across tasks and motivational systems. Four experiments with college students were simultaneously conducted: (a) pretreatment with inescapable, escapable, or control aversive tone followed by shuttlebox escape testing; (b) pretreatment with insoluble, soluble, or control discrimination problems followed by anagram solution testing; (c) pretreatments with inescapable, escapable, or control aversive tone followed by anagram solution testing; (d) pretreatments with insoluble, soluble, or control discrimination problems followed by shuttlebox escape testing. Learned helplessness was found with all four experiments: Both insolubility and inescapability produced failure to escape and failure to solve anagrams. We suggest that inescapability and insolubility both engendered expectancies that responding is independent of reinforcement. The generality of this process suggests that learned helplessness may be an induced trait. Inescapable aversive events presented to animals or to men result in profound interference with later instrumental learning (e.g., Hiroto, 1974; Overmier & Seligman, 1967; Seligman & Maier, 1967; Thornton & Jacobs, 1971). If a subject can escape the aversive event, later instrumental behavior remains normal. This phenomenon has been…

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Authors: Hiroto, D. S., & Seligman, M. E.
Affiliations: University of California, San Francisco (US)
ORCID: Seligman, Martin E.
Venue: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1975-02
Volume: 31
Issue: 2
Pages: 311-327
ISSN: 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
1939-1315
DOI: 10.1037/h0076270
OpenAlex: W2018937716
Cited by: 896
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 21 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 19
FWCI: 53.40
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords: learned helplessness, uncontrollability, operant conditioning, escape behavior, motivation system

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Generality of learned helplessness in man.

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