Immunization Against Learned Helplessness in Man: Support for the S-R position

Abstract

Immunization against learned helplessness has been found in dogs and rats; this study tested for the same effect in man. College students were divided into four groups; the helplessness control group received no immunization training while the other three groups received either a 0%, 50%, or 100% schedule of success on a series of discrimination problems. Then all groups were given insoluble problems and were subsequently tested on a human shuttlebox. An immunization effect against helplessness was produced; the 50% immunization schedule produced performance significantly superior to the helplessness control and 0% groups. The 100% group failed to produce the immunization effect. These findings lend substantial support to the S-R explanation of helplessness phenomena (Levis, 1976) over the expectancy of independence explanation (Maier and Seligman, 1976). Implications of the study for the helplessness model of depression and for strategies in clinical therapy were also discussed.