托福口语 Task 3

In psychology, the concept of 'learned helplessness' refers to a condition in which an individual, after repeated exposure to unavoidable negative events, begins to believe that they have no control over their environment. This belief persists even when opportunities to escape or avoid the negative outcomes become available. Learned helplessness often leads to passivity, reduced motivation, and impaired problem-solving, as the person generalizes their perceived lack of control across different situations.

Professor: Let me give you an example from a classic experiment. Researchers placed dogs in a shuttle box with two compartments. In the first phase, some dogs received electric shocks that they could not escape, regardless of their behavior. After this phase, they were moved to a new setup where they could easily jump over a low barrier to avoid the shock. Dogs that had not experienced the inescapable shocks quickly learned to jump over the barrier. However, dogs that had previously been helpless—they just lay down and whined, even though the barrier was low. They didn't even try to escape, because they had learned that their actions didn't matter. This illustrates how past uncontrollable experiences can cripple future learning and initiative.