TOEFL Speaking Task 3

In psychology, the concept of 'learned helplessness' refers to a condition in which an individual learns to believe that they have no control over their environment, even when opportunities for control exist. This belief often arises after repeated exposure to uncontrollable negative events. As a result, the individual stops trying to change their situation, leading to passivity and a lack of initiative, even in new circumstances where action could actually produce a positive outcome.

Professor: Let me illustrate this with an experiment involving dogs. Researchers placed dogs in a chamber with a low barrier dividing it into two sections. One side had a mild electric shock delivered through the floor, but the other side was safe. In the first phase, dogs were restrained in a harness and given shocks they could not escape. After several trials, they were released into the open chamber. When the shock was turned on, these dogs initially ran around but soon lay down and whimpered, making no attempt to jump over the barrier to the safe side. In contrast, a control group of dogs that had never experienced inescapable shocks quickly jumped to the safe side. The first group had learned that escape was impossible, so they gave up, even though the barrier was low enough to easily jump over. This demonstrates learned helplessness in action.