托福口语 Task 3

In psychology, the concept of 'learned helplessness' refers to a condition in which an individual perceives a lack of control over outcomes in their environment, even when control is actually possible. This perception often arises after repeated exposure to uncontrollable negative events, leading the person to stop trying to change the situation, generalize the feeling of helplessness to new contexts, and exhibit passivity or depression. Learned helplessness is typically studied in both animal and human experiments, and it highlights how past experiences can shape future behavior and motivation.

Professor: Let me give you a classic example from a study with dogs. In this experiment, dogs were placed in a chamber with a floor that delivered mild electric shocks. One group of dogs could stop the shock by pressing a panel with their noses—they learned control. Another group received shocks at random times, and pressing the panel did nothing—they had no control. After this initial phase, all dogs were placed in a shuttle box, which had a low barrier dividing it into two sides. When a light signaled a shock, the dogs could jump over the barrier to escape. The dogs that had control in the first phase quickly learned to jump over the barrier. But the dogs that had experienced uncontrollable shocks—even though the escape was now possible—simply lay down, whined, and endured the shocks. They didn't even try to jump. They had learned that their actions were futile, so they gave up. This illustrates learned helplessness perfectly.