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[The effect of control and predictability in learned helplessness]
Zeitschrift Fur Experimentelle Und Angewandte Psychologie
|January 1, 1989
Summary
Controllability over noise stimuli is key for learning, more so than predictability. Unpredictability hinders forming new predictive connections, impacting learning performance.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Learned helplessness theory suggests lack of control leads to passive behavior.
- Understanding how stimulus control influences learning is crucial for cognitive research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the distinct roles of controllability and predictability of aversive stimuli on subsequent learning.
- To examine how these factors influence response measures and the acquisition of new predictive associations.
Main Methods:
- A 2x2 experimental design was employed with 84 subjects.
- Two experiments were conducted, with a modified test task in the second experiment.
- Subjects were exposed to aversive noise stimuli with varying levels of controllability and predictability.
Main Results:
- Controllability emerged as the dominant factor influencing learned helplessness in the initial experiment.
- In the modified task, controllability primarily affected response measures like latency and omission.
- Unpredictability was found to impede the learning of new predictive connections.
Conclusions:
- Controllability and predictability exert differential influences on learning processes.
- Findings support contingency learning models in explaining responses to aversive stimuli.
- The study highlights the importance of perceived control in cognitive tasks.