Martin Seligman and Steven Maier's 1967 experiments on dogs found that prior exposure to inescapable shocks left the animals passive even once escape became possible, a pattern they named learned helplessness. The finding became a founding model for understanding depression as, in part, a learned belief that one's actions do not affect outcomes.
Facts
Key FindingDogs previously given inescapable shocks later failed to escape shocks even when escape was freely available, lying down and whining passively instead, while dogs with no prior inescapable-shock exposure escaped normally; later neuroscience work reinterpreted the passive state as the brain's default response to prolonged aversive stimulation rather than something actively learned. 2 Method
Study DesignControlled Experiment (Lab or Field) 1 Participants Connections
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Source Wikipedia: Learned Helplessnesstier 2
Sources
1. Learned helplessness (Wikipedia)
2. Wikipedia: Learned Helplessness
Wikimedia FoundationHistory and Neuroscience
Dogs in Group 2 were given electric shocks at random times, which the dog could end by pressing a lever.
Early experiments section
Most of the Group 3 dogs-which had previously learned that nothing they did had any effect on shocks-simply lay down passively and whined when they were shocked.
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