Week 3: Learned helplessness and learned optimism Flashcards
Main contributor to 1960s Learned Helplessness in dogs experiments
Martin Seligman
1967 ― Triadic experiments with dogs
1969 ― Theory of learned helplessness
1975 ― First human ‘helplessness’ experiment
published
1978 ― Attributional reformulation
1989 ― Hopelessness depression theory
1991 ― ‘Learned Optimism’ published
1993 ― ‘Learned Helplessness’ published
Design of yoked ‘triadic’ dog experiments
GROUP 1 ― escapable shock (dog can turn off shock
with nose)
GROUP 2 ― inescapable shock (yoked to Group 1)
GROUP 3 ― no treatment (Control)
Phases of Learned Helplessness in dogs experiments
Pavlovian harness
Shuttle box
Results of yoked ‘triadic’ dog experiments
GROUP 1 ― escapable shock ― Normal Learning
GROUP 2 ― inescapable shock ― Interference,
two-thirds failed to learn
GROUP 3 ― no treatment ― Normal Learning
Original theory of learned helplessness:
Exposing organisms to UNCONTROLLABLE OUTCOMES
produces 3 DEFICITS
1. ________deficit: belief that outcomes are
uncontrollable;
2. __________deficit: lack of response initiation;
and, if the outcomes are aversive
3. _________ deficit: fear & eventually depression
Cognitive
Motivational
Emotional
Original theory of learned helplessness:
applies to all organisms (not just dogs);
1. assumes even non-aversive uncontrollable outcomes
can produce learned helplessness deficits;
2. claims to explain depression, but experimenters did
not check for signs (symptoms) of depression in the
dogs
Criticism of the theory of learned helplessness:
Goes beyond the experimental findings
(effect in dogs exposed to electric shocks)
2. Fails to explain why a third of subjects show
no effect (do not become helpless)
3. As a theory of depression:
(a) paradox of self-blame
(b) fails to explain why not everyone is
depressed
Criticism of yoked ‘triadic’ dog experiment:
Does not rule out possibility of instrumental
response
2. Possible neurochemical explanation
3. Application of Church’s (1964) critique of yoked
control designs:
* Subjects may differ in sensitivity to shock
* Sensitivity to shock may fluctuate over time
4. Results could be due to unpredictability (NOT
uncontrollability)
Revised theory of learned helplessness (1978): When organisms experience uncontrollable outcomes,
they explain it in terms of 3 attributional dimensions:
(a) _______- ________DIMENSION:
Determines personal or universal helplessness
(& accordingly self-blame)
(b) _______- _______DIMENSION:
Determines ‘chronicity’ (persistence)
(c) ________- _______DIMENSION:
Determines generalisability to new situations
(a) INTERNAL - EXTERNAL DIMENSION
(b) STABLE - UNSTABLE DIMENSION
(c) GLOBAL - SPECIFIC DIMENSION
Revised theory: (a) _______- ________DIMENSION:
Determines personal or universal helplessness
(& accordingly self-blame)
(a) INTERNAL - EXTERNAL DIMENSION
Revised theory: (b) _______- _______DIMENSION:
Determines ‘chronicity’ (persistence)
(b) STABLE - UNSTABLE DIMENSION
Revised theory: (c) ________- _______DIMENSION:
Determines generalisability to new situations
(c) GLOBAL - SPECIFIC DIMENSION
EXAMPLE 1: You fail exam (negative outcome)
Two possible explanations:
a) I’m stupid (internal, stable, global)
b) Exam was unfair (external, unstable, specific)
EXAMPLE 2: You come top in exam (positive outcome)
Two possible explanations:
a) I’m brilliant (internal, stable, global)
b) I was lucky (external, unstable, specific)
The revised theory assumes some people have a
depressive (pessimistic) attributional style:
1) a tendency to give ‘internal, stable, global’
attributions for bad outcomes and
2) a tendency to give ‘external, unstable, specific’
attributions for good outcomes
Beck’s cognitive theory of depression proposes three types of distortion:
1. negative distortions about the _______
2. negative distortions about the _______
3. negative distortions about ________
Self
World
Others
Depressed people have _________ (sets of
cognitions, beliefs, attitudes etc
Negative schemas
Depressed people have negative schemas (sets of
cognitions, beliefs, attitudes etc) about:
* SELF (I’m unlikeable)
* WORLD (nothing ever goes right), and
* OTHERS (nobody cares whether I live or die)
Beck suggests _________ _________is a major factor in
maintaining depression
distorted thinking
FOR EXAMPLE:
* if therapist is LATE (they don’t want to see me,
I’m too hopeless)
* if therapist is EARLY (I’m so sick they have to
rush to the office)
‘Hopelessness’ theory of depression:
* based on learned helplessness theory
* assumes depressed people generalise
inappropriately from situations with
uncontrollable outcomes to situations with
controllable outcomes
* assumes depressed patients have an unrealistic
attributional style
Martin Seligman is a strong advocate of _________
retraining
to be both successful & happy:
* develop a healthy (‘optimistic’) ________ style
attributional
Depressive ________ hypothesis:
* depressed college students were more
accurate (realistic) in making judgments
about their performance in an experimental
task
* non-depressed college students tended to
over-rate their performance
realism
_________ theory of depression:
* based on learned helplessness theory
* assumes depressed people generalise
inappropriately from situations with
uncontrollable outcomes to situations with
controllable outcomes
* assumes depressed patients have an unrealistic
attributional style
‘Hopelessness’
Positive illusions:
Cognitive theories of depression incorrectly assume
that depressed patients distort reality whereas
mentally healthy people are realistic
It is the opposite:
* mentally healthy people distort reality
(see world through ‘rose-tinted glasses’)
* depressed patients are more realistic
__________ is a pioneer of the Positive Psychology movement
Seligman
The anticipation of good or bad things to happen in the future, ___________.
Pessimism
The basis of optimism lies in positive phrases or images of victory. True/False
False
The basis of optimism does not lie in positive phrases or images of victory, but in the way you think about causes
Confidence that we can change or control elements of our lives.
the locus of control
_________ locus of control is associated with optimism; this is the belief that you can take an active role in controlling things like exam results, work performance, and your environment in general.
Internal
__________ locus of control tend to feel helpless about changing their relationships, lives, and so forth
External
Three cognitive distortions tend to underpin the way we understand our experiences:
personalization, pervasiveness, and permanence.
_________ can be thought of as an internal vs. external attribution style. If something bad happens:
- a pessimist will attribute it to internal factors (self blame, own fault)
- optimists externalize instead; they aren’t to blame, and next time may be better.
Personalization
_________ describes the global or specific element of adversity or a negative event and is closely related to catastrophizing. “I did a terrible job; I’ll never be hired again – EVER.” Someone who views an undesirable outcome as ________ will also be more inclined to believe that it will impact other aspects of their lives, too. “It means I’m a bad student, too, and unlovable (again).”
- Optimists see positive events as ________, it can be argued, rather than negative ones.
Pervasiveness, pervasive
_________ is about whether we view a negative situation as fleeting or lasting and unchangeable. A pessimistic explanatory style sounds something like: “I’ll always be a terrible dancer. It’s just who I am.” A positive one sounds more like: “I probably didn’t dance so well because my leg is currently hurting, but I’ll be back on top soon.” The key takeaway here is that the situation or circumstances are not fixed or unchangeable.
Permanence
In Australia, codes of ethics for animal care and research are strict and controlled by an act of _________.
parliament
Researchers in psychology must always consider potential ethical issues when they design a study. They must work out strategies to minimise risk and fill out their application for Human Research Ethics Committee approval or Animal Ethics Committee approval or both if it involves people and animals as participants. True/False
True
