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Learned helplessness is a phenomenon that was observed in both humans and animals. This experiment was conceptualized by psychologists Martin Seligman and Steven Maier during 1960s and early 1970s. Apparently, in this experiment, both organisms are conditioned to expect pain, suffering, or discomfort thinking there’s no other way to escape it. After conditioning, the animals are expected to give up on trying to escape the pain, and accept the pain as it is. When they reach this understanding, they would start to think, feel, and act like they are helpless because there’s nothing that they could do anymore.

For an instance, Seligman and Maier are testing the dogs’ responses to electric shocks. The dogs were first divided into groups, the one that would receive the electric shocks and the other group contrarily. They were put in a box that has a low barrier to separate them. When the electrified floor was turned on, the dogs that were placed in the box with electric shock didn’t even try to jump over the low barrier to escape. However, the dogs which were placed with no electric shocks were able to jump the barrier.

Furthermore, Seligman and Maier didn’t stop there. They collected another batch of dogs and grouped them into three. When the first experimental manipulation has done, all dogs were placed in the box with two chambers. Dogs that came from group 1 and group 2 easily figured out that they just need to jump over the barrier in order to escape the shocks. On the contrary, group 3 didn’t even try to escape the shocks. Therefore, the dogs realized that they can’t do anything to escape being shocked. After that, when Seligman and Maier arrived at conclusion. Later on, they conducted other experiments involving other animals such as rats.

There was once a study of learned helplessness that was conducted to humans in 1974. In the study, just like the rats and the dogs, humans were divided into three groups. One group was assigned to a loud music and unwavering noise but will be able to eliminate the noise through pressing a button four times. The second group was assigned to the same noise but the button would not function. And the last would be assigned to no noise at all.

Seligman and his colleagues introduced that subjecting participants to a situation that they held no control of would result to three deficiency area; motivational, cognitive, and emotional.

The cognitive refers to the knowledge of the participant that he or she has no control over things the motivational refers to the participant's lack of response of escaping from a certain situation. The emotional area refers to the participant's depressive state of mind when faced to a situation he or she lacks control of.

No one is born believing that they have no control over what happens to them and that it is useless even to try gaining control. It is a learned behavior, conditioned through experiences in which the subject either truly has no control over his circumstances or simply perceives that he has no control.

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- The ethical principle of protecting research subjects from potential injury is broken by the
researchers. Participants have the right to protect themselves during the experiment.
However, because they are dogs, they are unable to object to the experiment or even
defend themselves because they are unaware of its purpose and procedure.Unlike
humans, we are able to comprehend what is happening, and if we experience any
discomfort or agony while participating in the experiment, we have the mental capacity to
opt not to continue.

- Participants did not sign consent papers, and they were not adequately informed about
the risks and rewards of the experiment before they took part. Being dogs, participants
were unable to comprehend the scenario and were unaware of how the experiment
worked.

- Since researchers used dogs as their subjects, there was also a violation of the principle
of volunteering because animals like dogs lack the capacity to express their own
opinions and are oblivious to the circumstances

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Throughout the experiment of the canines, Martin Seligman concluded that if dogs can be conditioned to learn helplessness, then the lesson can be translated to human beings. Martin Seligman developed the idea of learned helplessness from studies on nonhuman animal research to clinical depression. As he conceptualized a theory with the experiment's name, he realized that all shocks aren't equal, and it doesn't hurt to keep trying to get away. Humans and animals are truly different from one another as they can find themselves being helpless and explicitly asked why that is the case. Thus, he believed that humans, like dogs, could be taught to become more resilient, a phenomenon called learned optimism.

The experiment's findings have been the foundation of understanding depression and post-traumatic stress between animals and humans through treatments, based on modern neuroscience research. Also, it provides a platform for therapists to explore the roots of hopelessness and promote healthier and newer beliefs through practicing compassion.

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What would be the outcome of the experiment if it were replicated today? 

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What would be the outcome of the experiment if it were replicated today? 

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Martin Seligman's experiment is truly inhumane and would never pass today's ethical standards as it harms the well-being of the canines. However, learned helplessness appears in our everyday situations such as in

EDUCATION

1. Early academic failure and low academic self-esteem can influence one's student success such as the inability to put effort into school due to past failure, leading to even less motivation and effort.

RELATIONSHIPS

1. Through the phenomenon of learned helplessness, it helps understand behind the mind of a domestic abuse victim why they do not tell others, try to get help, or leave the relationship

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Another Example of Learned Helplessness Experiment

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Another Example of Learned Helplessness Experiment

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Mauela
• Learned helplessness is a phenomenon that happens when a person starts to feel that they have no control over life's consequences due to a string of unfavorable events or circumstances.

Kristine
• In the 1960s, Martin Seligman was the first to identify learned helplessness as a phenomenon. In research on dogs, psychologist Seligman discovered that when the animals were repeatedly subjected to shocks they had no control over, they resisted acting when they could stop the shocks.

Rasheed
• Some people have different experiences on learned helplessness. They are more likely to experience learned helplessness in the face of uncontrollable events, often due to biological and psychological factors. Children raised by helpless parents, for example, are also more likely to experience learned helplessness.

Sharieda

•Learned helplessness can be overcome in a variety of ways. If you feel that learned helplessness is having a negative effect on your life and health, consider talking to your doctor about steps you can take to address this type of thinking. Likewise, Seligman himself also mentioned one thing that could help to avoid learned helplessness which is, learned optimism.

Therese
• Not without criticism, learned helplessness has been associated with and utilized as an explanation for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in humans. Even when escape is possible, a person may quit trying to avoid unpleasant stimuli if they realize that their behavior has no impact on their unpleasant surroundings.

As Seligman is the father of positive psychology, he identifies and nurtures positive emotions and uses them to withstand the negative, concluding that learned helplessness isn't all about helplessness—it is about empowerment and control.

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