TOEFL Speaking Task 3

In psychology, the concept of 'learned helplessness' refers to a condition in which an individual, after repeated exposure to uncontrollable negative events, begins to believe that their actions have no effect on outcomes, even when opportunities for change arise. This belief leads to passivity and a failure to escape or improve their situation, despite the possibility of doing so. Learned helplessness often develops in situations where a person perceives a lack of control, and it can generalize to new contexts, undermining motivation and learning.

Professor: Let me give you an example from a classic experiment. Researchers placed two groups of dogs in a shuttle box—a box with a low barrier in the middle. One group had previously been exposed to mild electric shocks that they could not avoid, no matter what they did. The other group had no such prior experience. In the shuttle box, when a light signal preceded the shock, the dogs could jump over the barrier to escape. The dogs with no prior experience quickly learned to jump over the barrier to avoid the shock. However, the dogs that had experienced uncontrollable shocks did not even try. They just lay down and whined, even though the barrier was low enough to jump over easily. They had learned that their actions were useless, so they gave up, demonstrating learned helplessness.