Dctr Seligmn: Lerned Helplessness - Essay Example

Lerned Helplessness, Dctr Seligmn Much reserch ver the pst decde hs ddressed the hypthesis f the refrmulted lerned helplessness thery f depressin tht depressed individuls tend t hve prticulr explntry style, nd tht individuls wh hve this explntry style when nn-depressed re t risk fr depressin if negtive life events ccur. Lerned helplessness thery ws gretly explred by Dctr Mrtin E.P. Seligmn nd his cllegues n the experiment with dg tht helped t discver the reltinship between fer nd lerning. The hypthesized depressive explntry style is chrcterized by internl, stble, nd glbl ttributins fr negtive events, nd externl, unstble nd specific ttributins fr psitive events. lthugh nt every study exmining the questin f whether depressed individuls hve this explntry style hs crrbrted this hypthesis, there hve been lrge number f supprtive studies. Indeed, Sweeney, ndersn, nd Biley (1986) cnducted met-nlysis f 104 studies nd cncluded tht there ws strng supprt fr the link between the pessimistic explntry style fr negtive events nd depressin, nd wek t mderte supprt fr the link between the pessimistic style fr psitive events nd depressin. Lerned helplessness is phenmenn cntining three cmpnents: cntingency, cgnitin, nd behvir. Cntingency ddresses the uncntrllbility f the situtin. Cgnitin refers t the ttributins tht peple mke regrding their situtin r surrundings f which they re prt. Behvir llws individuls t decide whether they will give up r prceed with the bstcle set befre them (Petersn, Mier, & Seligmn, 1993). When peple experience lerned helplessness, they hve tendency t give up esily r fil mre ften t smewht esier tsks. Lerned helplessness is mre likely t result frm situtins where filure is uncntrllble. Fr exmple, Gernign, Fleurnce, nd Reine (2000) cnducted study n filure in cntrlled nd uncntrlled circumstnces. They fund tht filure ws mre likely t ccur in uncntrllble circumstnces. nther study, cnducted by Stiensmieier-Pelster nd Schurmnn (1989), ddressed filure in terms f blming the results n internl r externl fctrs nd hw perfrmnce ws ffected by the respnse. They perfrmed tw tests n subjects nd then rted their perfrmnces. The reserchers fund tht the subjects, wh relted the filure t internl cuses, such s the tsk ws intellectully t difficult fr them persnlly, were mre inclined t give up thn thse wh ttributed their filures t externl cuses, such s thinking tht the test itself hd impssible questins. Mny fctrs ld int the cnstruct f lerned helplessness. Fr exmple, the type f situtin my ffect the wy tht peple respnd t difficult tsks. If persn is frced t perfrm in public, fctrs such s nxiety influence perfrmnce. In lerned helpless situtins, perfrmnce deficits ften result frm lw mtivtin due t the beliefs tht the persn is nt in cntrl (Witkwski & Stiensmeier-Pelster, 1998). Lerned helplessness hs n effect n wide crss-sectin f peple. Kshdn et l. (2000) pplied the cnstruct specificlly t disruptive children. They cmpred mthers wh experienced high-scil nxiety with mthers wh hd lw-scil nxiety by plcing them with n uncntrllble, devint child in n experimentl setting. The reserchers hd hypthesized tht the mthers with high-scil nxiety wuld be mre distressed fter the interctin with the child, nd s result, they wuld hve mny negtive feelings. The mesures f distress included self-rtings, bserved md rtings, hert rte, nd bld pressure. In the end, the experiment nd the experimenters hyptheses were supprted; crrect-mthers with high scil nxiety shwed lwer threshld fr ctivted negtive emtins such s nxiety, nger, nd irritbility nd less psitive interpersnl enggement. Lerned helplessness cn ffect ne type f persn mre thn nther cn. study cnducted by Milich nd kzki (1991) suggests tht DHD bys becme frustrted mre esily when cnfrnted with filure thn thse withut DHD. Tsks were presented t 23 bys dignsed with DHD nd 22 bys cmprising cntrl grup. The tsks invlved slving wrd puzzles where in ne cnditin the tsks were extremely hrd nd the thers were reltively esy. The reserchers fund tht the bys with DHD shwed n increse in hw esily they quit fter they slved ne prticulr puzzle. In turn, the children dignsed with DHD exhibited respnses similr t thse f helpless children. They becme frustrted mre esily, nd subsequently reprted feeling incresed bredm nd nxiety. The resn why the pssibility needs t be crefully exmined is tht ccrding t the refrmulted lerned helplessness thery (brmsn et l., 1978), cusl ttributins but uncntrllble events re hypthesized t ply crucil rle in the etilgy nd mintennce f ne frm f depressin; hwever, their pssible rle in the etilgy nd mintennce f nxiety disrders is nt ddressed. Similrly, the hpelessness thery f depressin (brmsn, Metlsky, & lly, 1989) prpses tht explntry style my be vulnerbility fctr fr ne type f depressin, but implicitly nt vulnerbility fctr fr nxiety. Yet there is incresing evidence tht uncntrllbility ver internl nd externl events undubtedly plys strng rle in the etilgy nd mintennce f nxiety disrders s well s depressive disrders (see Brlw, 1988, 1991; Minek & Kelly, 1989, fr reviews f the rle f uncntrllbility in nxiety). Thus, lthugh Seligmn ( 1974, 1975) emphsized the prllels between lerned helplessness in nimls nd humn rective depressin, it is nw knwn tht there re ls mny imprtnt prllels between lerned helplessness phenmen nd certin nxiety disrders. Fr exmple, much higher levels f fer re cnditined t neutrl stimuli pired with inescpble s ppsed t escpble shck (e.g., Minek, Ck, & Miller, 1984; Mwrer & Viek, 1948). In dditin, infnt mnkeys rered in cntrllble envirnments where their pernt respnses prduced fd, wter, nd trets shwed less fer nd nxiety in severl different stressful situtins thn did infnt mnkeys rered in uncntrllble envirnments where these sme reinfrcers were delivered nncntingently. Therefre, given the rle f uncntrllbility in nxiety, it wuld seem t be n imprtnt questin t determine whether explntry style ls plys rle in mderting the effects f uncntrllble events in ptients with nxiety disrders. During the pst twenty-five yers, hundreds f studies hve been dne n lerned helplessness in dgs, rts, nd humn subjects. Results hve been significnt: grups f students tht hve been trined t cntrl the situtins rutinely slved the prblems they fced while grup f students wh were nt trined t cntrl situtins gve up slving the prblems when giving minimum f effrts. Psychlgist Mrtin Seligmn, wh is ls knwn fr his wrk in mtivtin, believes tht we ll becme shrtly helpless when we fil. Sme peple recver lmst t nce, while thers sty helpless fr weeks, mnths, r even lnger. Seligmn believes tht the difference is in explntry style, the wy peple explin r resn why certin bd events hppened t them. Members f the grup wh sty helpless hve "pessimistic explntry style," which chnges lerned helplessness frm "brief nd lcl" t "lng-lsting nd generl", persns with this style see things tht hppen t them s persnl, permnent, nd pervsive. n ptimistic explntry style, n the ther hnd, ffers explntins tht re temprry nd lcl. While exmining the thery f lerned helplessness, Dctr Mrtin E.P. Seligmn mde lt f experiments n students' behvir tht is typicl fr the techers during their creers. ne f experiments is described in ne f his rticles "vercming Cnditined Helplessness in Mthemtics" nd is shrtly summrized in belw. There re dults tdy, mny in respectble, well-pying psitins, wh will freely dmit tht they re "nt gd" in mthemtics. It is lmst nturl thing t dmit t, nthing t be shmed f. It des nt even imply tht yu re inferir in ny wy. The sme persn wuld be reluctnt t dmit tht he r she is "nt gd" in reding r writing r is ignrnt in histry. Hwever, it seems t be ll right nt t be gd in mthemtics. t hme, when mther remrks csully tht she cn't blnce her checkbk, her children my ssume tht ne cn becme perfect dult--s mthers ften re in the eyes f yung children--withut liking r knwing mthemtics. It is interesting t nte tht explntry styles f bth sns nd dughters re in mst cses similr t their mther's, nt fther's (Seligmn 1991). When children t n erly, impressinble ge her these csul remrks they t ssume tht it is ll fight nt t like r excel in mth; they then develp lck f mtivtin tgether with sense f fer. T vercme this permnent nd pervsive explntry style, ne must be very mtivted t lern mthemtics nd determined t d it t ny cst. nce this decisin is mde, the persn's explntry style becmes ptimistic, nd filures re lked t s temprry. The chnces re very gd tht this individul will d well in mthemtics. The inner vice sys: Sure, I did nt d well befre becuse I did nt try hrd enugh. If I wrk hrd t it I will d well enugh t get decent grde. Seligmn believes tht mtivtin nd desire cn mke up fr lck f tlent in peple. The best exmples fr this belief re dult students returning t cllege fter yers f being wy frm schl. Even if they d nt cme equipped with the prper mthemtics bckgrund, they put in n enrmus munt f wrk t lern the mteril. They re mtivted t lern nd hve strng desire t ern cllege degree. These students, if tught prperly, cn ctully lern t enjy mthemtics. The questin is, hw shuld we tech subject tht mny think f s unnecessry, bring, nd difficult The nswer is nt simple, nd it invlves effrt n the prt f prents, techers, nd sciety. s cnclusin remrk, I wuld like t sy tht the thery suggested by Dctr Mrtin E.P. Seligmn nd his cllegues but lerned helplessness ws successfully used by further reserches s well s ppulr mng reders f psychlgicl literture. mng mny theries f this kind, thery f lerned helplessness hs been cnsidered nd reviewed by mny psychlgists nd is interesting in bth scientific frmewrk nd humn reserch psychlgy. The literture tht has been used t reserch the issue f lerned helplessness cnsists f mny rticles n mtivtin nd behvirism f Mrtin E.P. Seligmn nd ther reserches n the cse. Bibligrphy: 1. Gernign, C., Fleurnce, P., & Reine, B. (2000). Effects f uncntrllbility nd filure n the develpment f lerned helplessness in perceptul-mtr tsks. Reserch Qurterly fr Exercise nd Sprt, 71, 44-54. 2. Kshdn, T.B., Jcb, R., Pelhn, W.E., Lng, .R., Jennings, R., Gngy, E.M., & Blumenthl, J.D. (2000). Prentl scil nxiety during n experimentl prent-child lerned helplessness prcedure. Pper presented t the nnul Cnference f the mericn Psychlgicl sscitin, Wshingtn, D.C. 3. Lrd, EM., & Nvick, M.R. (1968). Sttisticl theries f mentl test scres. Reding, M: ddisn-Wesley. 4. Mrtin E. P. Seligmn is Fx Ledership Prfessr f Psychlgy nd directr f the Center fr Psitive Psychlgy t the University f Pennsylvni. Frmer president f the mericn Psychlgicl sscitin, he is the uthr f "Helplessness" (1975), "Lerned ptimism" (1990), nd "uthentic Hppiness" (2002). 5. Milich, R. & kzki, M. (1991). n exmintin f lerned helplessness mng ttentin-deficit hyperctivity disrdered bys. Jurnl f bnrml Child Psychlgy, 19, 607-621. 6. Petersn, C., Mier, S. F., & Seligmn, M. (1993). Lerned helplessness: thery fr the ge f persnl cntrl. New Yrk: xfrd University Press. 7. Shipley, W.C. (1986). Shipley Institute f Living Scle. Ls ngeles: Western Psychlgicl Services. 8. Seligmn, M. E. P. 1991 . Lerned ptimism. New Yrk: Knpf. 9. Stiensmeier-Pelster, J. & Schurmnn, M. (1989). Perfrmnce deficits fllwing filure: Integrting mtivtinl nd functinl spects f lerned helplessness. nxiety Reserch, 2, 211-222. 10. Witkwski, T. & Stiensmeier-Pelster, J. (1998). Perfrmnce deficits fllwing filure: Lerned helplessness r self-esteem prtectin. British Jurnl f Scil Psychlgy, 37, 59-71. 11. Weiner. B. 1973 . Theries f mtivtin: Frm mechnism t cgnitin. Chicg: Mrkhm. Read More