Effects of attributions for success on the alleviation of learned helplessness and depression.

Investigated the effects of attributions for success on the alleviation of mood and performance deficits of 104 19–60 yr old clinically depressed inpatients. Ss were assigned to either an acutely depressed group or an improved depressed group that was exposed to a learned helplessness induction procedure. Ss received 80% positive feedback on a task allegedly measuring social intelligence. Concurrently, Ss were exposed to experimental manipulations designed to induce attributions of this experience to 1 of 4 types of causes (internal–general, internal–specific, external–general, external–specific). Following this task, Ss' mood, expectancies, and anagram performance were assessed. Results indicate that helpless and depressed Ss who received the internal attribution manipulations reported less depressed mood than Ss in the external attribution conditions. Similarly, Ss in the general attribution conditions performed better and reported higher expectancies for success on the anagrams than Ss in the specific attribution conditions. Results are supportive of an attribution theory model of learned helplessness and depression. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reversal of cognitive and affective deficits associated with depression and learned helplessness by mood elevation in patients

Therapeutic implications of the learned helplessness model of depression were tested in a clinical population (48 male medical and psychiatric patients of a VA hospital). In pretreatment, 2 groups of nondepressed medical patients waited, 2 groups of nondepressed medical patients received helplessness training, and 2 groups of psychiatric patients (diagnosed as primary affective disorder) waited. In treatment, Ss received either E. Velten's (1968) mood-elation procedure as "therapy" or Velten's (1968) mood-neutral procedure as placebo. Performance on cognitive and mood tasks was assessed. Three separate administrations of the Depression Adjective Check List indicated that helplessness training induced depressive affect, and the mood elation procedure decreased depressive affect for both helpless and depressed Ss. The mood neutral procedure and the waiting periods were associated with no affective changes. On the cognitive (anagrams) task, performance deficits were associated with helplessness and depression but were reversed by mood elation. Results are interpreted as consistent with the learned helplessness model of depression. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and learned helplessness in man.

Demonstrated similarity of impairment in naturally occurring depression and laboratory-induced learned helplessness in 48 undergraduates. 3 groups each of depressed and nondepressed Ss were exposed to escapable, inescapable, or no noise. Then they were tested on a series of 20 patterned anagrams. Depressed-no-noise Ss were much poorer at solving individual anagrams and seeing the pattern than nondepressed-no-noise Ss. Inescapable noise produced parallel deficits in nondepressed Ss relative to escapable or no noise, but inescapable noise did not increase impairment in depressed Ss. Findings support the learned helplessness model of depression, which claims that a belief in independence between responding and reinforcement is central to the etiology, symptoms, and cure of reactive depression. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive influences on the development of learned helplessness.

120 college students participated in an experiment concerning the influence of self-statements following failure on subsequent symptoms of learned helplessness (LH). 40 Ss were given solvable concept-formation problems (nonhelpless condition), and 80 Ss were given unsolvable problems (helpless condition). MANOVA revealed a significant difference between helpless and nonhelpless Ss on cognitive/motivational and affective measures of LH and on self-statements regarding performance. However, when multiple regression and correlational analyses were performed within the group of Ss who failed the problems, no stable relationship was found between self-statements (cognitions) about concept-formation performance and the LH measures. Implications for A. T. Beck's (1967) cognitive model of depression and the reformulated LH model of depression (L. Y. Abramson et al, 1978) are discussed. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learned helplessness and learned resourcefulness: Effects of noncontingent success and failure on individuals differing in self-control skills.

In Exp I, 72 undergraduates were assessed using the Self-Control Schedule and received noncontingent success-, failure-, or no-feedback on a task that ostensibly assessed therapeutic abilities. Ss were subsequently tested on insolvable puzzles. In Exp II, 72 undergraduates followed the same procedure as in Exp I but were subsequently tested on solvable anagrams. Results show that the performance of Ss with low resourcefulness (LR) in self-control skills on the insolvable puzzles was debilitated by the helplessness induction, while Ss with high resourcefulness (HR) and LR Ss showed equal helplessness-induced deficits on the anagrams. As predicted from the self-control model, HR Ss more frequently checked statements indicating positive self-evaluations and task-oriented thoughts and less frequently checked negative self-evaluations than did LR Ss during exposure to uncontrollability in both experiments. It is concluded that the self-control model best accounts for Ss' self-reactions during exposure to uncontrollability or failure, while the learned helplessness model accounts for the generalization of helplessness from uncontrollable situations to controllable ones. The list of self-referent statements used in the experiments is appended. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Universal versus personal helplessness in depression: Belief in uncontrollability or incompetence?

The learned helplessness model of depression predicts that depressed individuals believe outcomes are more response independent than do nondepressed individuals in a skill situation. The present study assessed whether depressives' cognitive distortions are specific to their belief about their own skilled action or are a result of a general belief in uncontrollability in the world. Changes in expectancies following success and failure in skill and chance tasks were examined in 32 depressed and 32 nondepressed college students who either performed themselves or observed a confederate perform a pair of tasks. In the skill task, depressed Ss showed significantly smaller changes in expectancy than nondepressed Ss when estimating the probability of their own success. In contrast, depressed and nondepressed Ss did not differ when estimating the probability of another person's success on the identical skill task. It is inferred that depressed individuals view themselves as helpless in a skilled situation but do not view the situation itself as uncontrollable. Results are discussed in terms of the reformulated learned helplessness model. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of real and recalled success on learned helplessness and depression.

The effects of recalling past successes on the deficits in learned helplessness and depression were examined and, for learned helplessness, compared with those of real success. Ss were 84 female, English university students who had been rated on the Beck Depression Inventory. Depressed Ss and nondepressed Ss receiving unsolvable problems showed deficits in anagram performance and some evidence of lowered mood compared with nondepressed Ss receiving no unsolvable problems. Experience with solvable letter substitution problems reversed anagram deficits and low mood associated with learned helplessness, replicating previous findings. Recalling successes on letter substitution problems had no effect on the anagram deficits in learned helplessness and depression and had an effect in improving mood only in learned helplessness. Real and recalled success both significantly modified attributions for failure in the learned helplessness condition. Results suggest real success does not have its therapeutic effects by modifying attributions for failure toward external factors. Some evidence of a facilitatory effect of depression on initial anagram performance was obtained. It is concluded that recall of past successes, while easier to arrange than real success experiences, may not be a powerful clinical procedure. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influences of sex roles on the development of learned helplessness.

160 college students participated in an experiment concerning the relationships among sex roles, sex, and learned helplessness. Included in each of the 4 following sex role types were 20 males and 20 females: androgynous, masculine sex typed, feminine sex typed, and undifferentiated. Half the Ss in each sex role type were given unsolvable concept formation problems (helpless condition); the other Ss were given solvable concept formation problems (nonhelpless condition). Sex of experimenter was counterbalanced across sex of S, sex role type, and experimental condition. As predicted, the 4 sex role types responded differently to the helpless condition. Feminine-sex-typed and masculine-sex-typed Ss showed cognitive and motivational deficits as well as dysphoric mood in the helpless condition; helpless androgynous Ss showed only dysphoric mood; and undifferentiated Ss were unaffected by the helpless condition. This pattern of results was found for both males and females and was unrelated to sex of experimenter. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancy changes in depression and schizophrenia.

Does the learned helplessness model of depression apply to clinically depressed patients and is it specific to depression? Changes in expectancy following success and failure in skill and chance tasks were assessed for depressed nonschizophrenics (unipolar depressives), depressed schizophrenics, nondepressed schizophrenics, and normal controls (32 Ss, aged 18–50 yrs). Unipolar depressives showed smaller changes in expectancy of future success after failure in the skill task than did the controls and both schizophrenic groups. Depressed schizophrenics did not show smaller expectancy changes than nondepressed schizophrenics. The learned helplessness model has been tested primarily in populations with subclinical depression; the present results provide partial support for learned helplessness as a model of one type of severe clinical depression and suggest that learned helplessness is not a general feature of psychopathology. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancies, mood, and performance of depressed and nondepressed psychiatric inpatients on chance and skill tasks.

The learned helplessness model of depression predicts that, compared with nondepressed patients, depressed patients will demonstrate psychomotor deficits, provide lower subjective evaluations of their performance, and perceive reinforcement in skill tasks as more response independent. These predictions were tested in 32 depressed (mean age 35 yrs) and 32 nondepressed (mean age 38 yrs) psychiatric inpatients, who had been administered the Quick Test and the Beck Depression Inventory. Ss performed card- and peg-sorting tasks in which measures of performance, ratings of mood and expectancy of success, and subjective evaluations of performance were obtained under chance and skill reinforcement conditions. Although some support was obtained for the prediction that depressives provide lower evaluations of their performance than nondepressives, the other predictions were not supported. Comparisons between depressed and nondepressed schizophrenics indicate that the mood of depressed schizophrenics was especially sensitive to task outcome for both skill and chance conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of amount of helplessness training and internal–external locus of control on mood and performance.

Based on C. B. Wortman and J. W. Brehm's (1975) integration of reactance theory with M. E. Seligman's (1972, 1975) model of learned helplessness, the present study examined the effects of amount of helplessness training and internal–external locus of control on subsequent task performance and on self-ratings of mood. 90 undergraduates were divided into internal and external groups on the basis of their scores on Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale and were then given either high, low, or no helplessness training on a series of concept-formation problems. After completing the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List, all Ss worked on an anagram task presented as a 2nd experiment by a 2nd experimenter. Internals exhibited greater performance decrements and reported greater depression under high helplessness than did externals. In the low helplessness conditions, internals tended to perform better than control Ss, while externals tended to perform worse than control Ss; low helplessness Ss also reported the highest levels of hostility. The results are discussed within the context of Wortman and Brehm's integration of reactance and learned helplessness theories. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal and impersonal problem-solving skills in mildly and clinically depressed university students.

Administered the Beck Depression Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to 20 nondepressed and 20 depressed university students and 8 nondepressed and 10 depressed university students being treated at a university counseling service. Ss were then tested on the Means–Ends Problem-Solving Procedure (a measure of interpersonal problem-solving ability) and the anagram task used in the investigations of learned helplessness (a measure of impersonal problem-solving ability). All Ss were administered the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry version of the Vocabulary subscale of the WAIS. A significant negative correlation was found between depression and interpersonal problem-solving ability, while only anxiety was correlated with anagram performance. Differences between groups were found only in interpersonal problem-solving performance. Nondepressed Ss performed significantly better than the other 3 groups, while depressed counselees obtained the lowest scores on the interpersonal measures. No relationship was found between performance on the anagram task and performance on the Means–Ends Problem-Solving Procedure. Results are consistent with predictions generated by interpersonal theories of depression, but they raise questions about the validity of the learned helplessness model as an analog of clinical depression. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Poor performance following unsolvable problems: Learned helplessness or egotism?

People often perform poorly on tasks following experience with unsolvable problems. The current experiment tested 2 competing explanations (learned helplessness and egotism) for this performance deficit. 40 college students were given either solvable or unsolvable discrimination problems and then a series of anagrams that were alleged to be either highly or moderately difficult. Ss previously given unsolvable problems did better on the anagrams when led to believe that the anagrams were highly difficult than when led to believe that the anagrams were moderately difficult. This result is contrary to a learned helplessness theory interpretation, which attributes performance deficits following unsolvable problems to the belief that outcomes are independent of responses. Instead, this result supports an egotism explanation, which maintains that people are not likely to try hard on a task following experience with unsolvable problems (i.e., following failure), unless a poor performance would not pose a further threat to their self-esteem. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reversal of performance deficits and perceptual deficits in learned helplessness and depression.

Tested therapeutic implications of the learned helplessness model of depression in 2 experiments with a total of 128 undergraduates. Depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory. Nondepressed Ss receiving inescapable noise and depressed/no-noise Ss later showed noise escape deficits in a shuttlebox and perceptions of response-reinforcement independence when compared with nondepressed/no-noise Ss. Experience with solvable discrimination problems reversed the escape deficits and perceptions of response-reinforcement independence associated with both inescapability and depression. Results support the learned helplessness model of depression, which claims (a) that uncontrollable events induce distorted perceptions of response-reinforcement independence in nondepressed people which cause performance deficits parallel to those found in naturally occurring depression, and (b) that experience with controllable events reverses the perceptions of response-reinforcement independence and the performance deficits associated with both helplessness and depression. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learned helplessness in the perspective of the depressive disorders: Conceptual and definitional issues.

Examines 3 issues that are important in extending the learned helplessness model to clinical depressive disorders. First, the nature of the heterogeneity of clinical manifestations of depression is examined within several clinical frameworks, and the role that learned helplessness may play in each is discussed. Second, the problems in constructing models for clinical populations are explored through the examination of several parallels between learned helplessness and clinical depression put forth by M. E. Seligman (1975). Third, problems involved in defining and identifying depressed college student Ss in analog research are discussed. Integral to the latter issue is an evaluation of the assumption that depressed college student Ss differ from clinical depressives only quantitatively but not qualitatively. Suggestions are made for research aimed at extending the learned helplessness model to other clinical problem areas. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A critical evaluation of the learned helplessness model of depression.

The 1st section of this article deals with ambiguities and confusion in writings on learned helplessness. It is observed that one major source of confusion has been the use of the term to refer indiscriminately to observed interference with performance, to specific deficits presumed to be responsible for the interference, and to the postulated belief that outcomes are noncontingent on responses. The 2nd section critically examines published research. The major findings are the following: (a) Failure on one task leads to interference on a 2nd task; instructions that noise is inevitable do not. (b) Recent studies disconfirm earlier reports of small expectancy changes in depressed or "helpless" Ss. (c) There is little evidence that learned helplessness is related to depression. The 3rd section discusses problems in drawing conclusions from analog studies and mentions alternative strategies for research on depression. (62 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physiological correlates of learned helplessness in man.

Assessed physiological correlates (heart rate, skin resistance, and GSR) of learned helplessness in 48 undergraduates. One group of Ss was pretreated with a series of inescapable aversive tones, and the degree of impairment was measured on a subsequent solvable anagram solution task. These Ss were compared with a group pretreated with escapable aversive tones and a control group which passively listened to the tones without attempting to escape them. Results replicate the learned helplessness effect: The group pretreated with inescapable tones demonstrated greatly impaired performance at solving anagrams relative to the other groups. Moreover, the learned-helplessness group demonstrated lower tonic skin conductance levels, smaller phasic skin conductance responses, and more spontaneous electrodermal activity relative to the group pretreated with escapable tones. These are symptoms which some researchers have claimed to be associated with clinical depression. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internal attributions and types of depression in college students: The learned helplessness model revisited.

Tested the relation between attributions and types of depression (with and without low self-esteem) postulated by reformulated learned helplessness theory vs. an alternative (R. Janoff-Bulman; see record 1981-01320-001). 334 Ss completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Attributional Style Questionnaire, and Janis-Field Feelings of Inadequacy Scale. Scores above 8 on the Beck were considered depressed. A median split on the Janis-Field scale divided Ss into those with and without low self-esteem. Clearest support was found for Janoff-Bulman's formulations. Depressed Ss with low self-esteem made more internal characterological attributions for bad events than the other groups. Nondepressed Ss made more internal behavioral attributions than depressed Ss. The implications for counseling and future research on depression and learned helplessness are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional style and the generality of learned helplessness.

According to the logic of the attribution reformulation of learned helplessness, the interaction of 2 factors influences whether helplessness experienced in one situation will transfer to a new situation. The model predicts that people who exhibit a style of attributing negative outcomes to global factors will show helplessness deficits in new situations that are either similar or dissimilar to the original situation in which they were helpless. In contrast, people who exhibit a style of attributing negative outcomes to only specific factors will show helplessness deficits in situations that are similar, but not dissimilar, to the original situation in which they were helpless. To test these predictions, 2 studies were conducted in which undergraduates with either a global or specific attributional style for negative outcomes (as measured by the Attributional Style Questionnaire) were given 1 of 3 pretreatments in the typical helplessness triadic design: controllable bursts of noise, uncontrollable bursts of noise, or no noise. Ss were also administered the Beck Depression Inventory. In Exp I, 108 Ss were tested for helplessness deficits in a test situation similar to the pretreatment setting, whereas in Exp II, 60 Ss were tested in a test situation dissimilar to the pretreatment setting. Findings are consistent with predictions of the reformulated helplessness theory. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The roles of self-esteem and self-consciousness in the Wortman-Brehm model of reactance and learned helplessness.

Studied the conditions under which failure would enhance or inhibit subsequent task performance. Based on the theory of C. B. Wortman and J. W. Brehm (1975), it was expected that small amounts of failure would produce reactance (manifested by improved performance at a subsequent task); large amounts would lead to learned helplessness (i.e., impaired later performance). It was further expected that individual differences in self-esteem and private self-consciousness would serve as moderator variables for the effects. In Exp I, 78 college students were exposed to either a small amount or no failure before working on an anagrams task. As predicted, Ss high in self-consciousness, who showed greater reactance arousal in attitude change studies, performed better on the anagrams task than Ss low in self-consciousness in the small-failure condition, but not in the no-failure condition. In Exp II, 119 Ss were pretreated with either a small amount of failure, an extended amount of failure, or no failure before working on the task. A significant Self-Esteem by Helplessness Training interaction emerged. Low self-esteem Ss (low SEs) performed marginally better than did high SEs in the small-failure condition but significantly worse than high SEs in the extended-failure condition. Questionnaire data from Exp II were consistent with the notion that enhanced performance reflected reactance, whereas impaired performance signified helplessness. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)