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 uncontrollable negative events, begins to believe that their actions have no effect on outcomes. As a result, they stop trying to change their situation, even when opportunities for escape or improvement become available. This passive behavior is learned through experience and can generalize to new contexts, leading to decreased motivation and problem-solving ability.

Professor: Let me give you a classic example from an experiment with dogs. In the first phase, dogs were placed in a chamber where they received mild electric shocks. One group could stop the shocks by pressing a panel with their nose; the other group received shocks that were identical but unavoidable—they could do nothing to stop them. In the second phase, all dogs were placed in a shuttle box with a low barrier. They could easily jump over the barrier to escape the shock when a signal sounded. The dogs that had control in the first phase quickly learned to jump over the barrier to avoid the shock. However, the dogs that had experienced uncontrollable shocks in the first phase initially tried a few times, but after failing, they simply lay down and whined, passively accepting the shocks. Even though escaping was now possible, they had learned that their actions were futile, so they didn't even attempt to jump.