Table of Contents
What is Learned Helplessness?
Learned helplessness is a psychological phenomenon where a person or animal stops trying to avoid a negative stimulus such as pain or discomfort after repeated exposure. Learned Helplessness arises when the organism feels that it can not avoid the negative stimulus and simply resigns itself to experiencing the pain or discomfort rather than reacting in the traditional avoidant way.
Learned Helplessness in Animal Studies
For example, in a cruel study done in the 60s, it was found that dogs which experienced an electric shock ran around frantically at first trying to avoid the shock. Those who had been taught how to avoid the shock quickly moved out of the shock zone in order to relieve themselves of the pain.
However, dogs which had been exposed to unavoidable shocks in the past did not try to avoid the shock and simply laid down whimpering until the shock subsided. This was the case whether the shock was avoidable or not. This is because the animal felt from experience that trying to avoid the stimulus only wastes energy and increases discomfort. Realizing that past efforts had done nothing, this learned helplessness caused animals to no longer try to avoid the negative stimulus (Overmier, and Seligman)
When the shock is made avoidable again, the vast majority of the dogs who had experienced unavoidable shocks did not try to avoid subsequent avoidable shocks. This learned helplessness quickly makes animals feel that they are fighting the inevitable and that they should simply bear the pain rather than trying pointlessly to avoid it.
Learned Helplessness in Humans
Studies have also found this same behavior of learned helplessness in humans. Similarly to the animal studies, the researchers found that giving humans an impossible task made them much less likely to solve a similar task later on, even when they were explicitly told that there was a way to solve it.
In the study, the researchers had participants complete several cognitive tasks such as finding words in mixed up letters. Throughout the test, they were told that a loud noise would play occasionally. Some participants were told that they could stop the sound by doing something with a device in front of them, while others were left to figure it out. Those that solved the way to get rid of the noise were much more successful in subsequent tests where different rules were in place to stop the noise.
In some of the trials however, there was no way to stop the noise. Participants in this group soon learned to simply grin and bear the annoying noise while they completed their cognitive challenges rather than waste time turning it off. In the follow up studies, they performed significantly worse in turning off the avoidable noise than those who had experienced success before.
Those that felt that there was no way to avoid the noise gave up hope and stopped trying to find ways to overcome and instead accepted their discomfort. Whether or not it was possible to turn off the noise made no difference, it was the belief of the individual that fueled the hopelessness in the participants.
Learned Helplessness and Depression
Further follow up research showed that learned helplessness is remarkably similar to naturally occurring depression. This time, the researchers gathered three groups of participants, some with depression and some without. Group one was exposed to a noise they could escape, another group was unable to turn off the noise, and a third group had no noise at all.
Similarly to the other experiments, the avoidable and unavoidable noise groups were given a pretest where they were told they could find a way to turn off the noise. Then, the participants in all three groups were asked to find words in mixed up letters.
While some results were obvious, such as that the group with the unavoidable noise took the longest to solve the word puzzles, other results were more surprising. While a noise was distracting to participants and caused them to perform worse on the task, the participants with depression performed similarly to other participants who had experienced learned helplessness, but performed equally poorly even when they had no noise to distract them.
This gives credence to the idea that depression is a type of learned helplessness. The participants who were given an unavoidable noise ended up having similar results as those who had clinical depression. However, those with depression did not get worse after experiencing further learned helplessness with an unavoidable noise.
So depression seems to have similar effects whether naturally occurring or induced by a learned helplessness laboratory experiment. This changes the understanding of depression from simply a chemical imbalance, to also a psychological experience depressed people often report; hopelessness.
This also shows that depression-like symptoms can be induced in people by environmental factors. When people feel that they have no control over their situation, they give up trying to find solutions to their problems. This shows that while depression is a chemical imbalance, changes in a person’s environment can help sufferers to see that their situation is not impossible. Some sufferers of depression may be able to be helped by a licensed therapist using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy rather than relying on medication and its myriad of side effects.
Important New Research on the Importance of “Grit“
A new meta analysis of over 80 studies showed that people with less perseverance or “grit” had lower scores on wellbeing. The meta study looked at the data from 66,518 participants and showed a strong correlation between a persons’ ability to persevere through difficult challenges and reported wellbeing. (Hou et al.)
Another interesting finding the researchers reported is that this correlation between grit and subjective wellbeing gets weaker as the person gets older. This means that younger people need grit, stamina, and perseverance more than older adults in order to feel good about themselves and their lives.
While everyone feels worse when they encounter difficulty, those that have the persistence to keep going until they overcome will experience more satisfaction and self confidence. People who give up easily due to learned helplessness will rarely experience the joys of being able to do something they previously felt impossible.
Younger minds are still developing in their approaches to life and don’t always have a firm self image yet. Successes and failures mean more to younger people because it helps shape not only who they will become in the future, but also shapes how they view themselves.
Older people are less reliant on external validation for their feelings about themselves and so the effects of grit were less pronounced on their wellbeing. This does not mean that there was no correlation between wellbeing and grit in the older participants, just that it was even more important the younger the person was.
Recognizing Learned Helplessness in the Classroom
Because learned helplessness can have negative consequences on classroom performance and subjective feelings of wellbeing, it is important that teachers watch out for signs that a student may be giving up due to experiencing learned helplessness. Students who are experiencing learned helplessness may…
- Describe work as “pointless”.
- Seem to lack determination and give up on tasks quickly.
- Act out as a way to distract themselves from work.
- Be overly reliant on the teacher to explain how to move past a problem.
- Often show signs of depression such as negativity, tiredness, and social isolation.
How to Fight Learned Helplessness in Students
While teaching students perseverance is obviously an important goal in the classroom, how can teachers fight learned helplessness and help students develop more grit? Many students are quick to give up in the classroom due to their feelings that they have no control over their lives.
These few tips will help teachers push their students further without breaking them and also help teachers understand the ways younger brains work differently from older brains. While research shows that students are naturally going to focus on negativity, that does not mean that they can’t be taught to recognize their ability to take control of their lives.
- Use short term rewards to teach students that their efforts have impact on their lives
One of the ways younger brains are different from older brains is in their ability to understand long term benefits. Younger people are less likely to understand or recognize longer term benefits and rewards.
Many teachers encourage students to persevere and keep trying so that they can “have a better education” or “so they can go to a good college”. While the second might work for high school juniors and seniors, these approaches are far too distant and abstract to convince younger students to try harder.
Instead, teachers should work on helping students see their ability to change their lives in the short term. Teachers can give students challenges such as “if you can complete these 10 problems before the end of class, we can play a game for the final 15 minutes of class.” These challenges help students who may have felt overwhelmed by the problems to focus instead on their goal of playing the game.
When the students successfully complete the problems, the teacher should praise the students and follow through with their promised reward. The students should be reminded of their previous whining and complaining about how they could never complete all of the problems and told that they need to have more faith in themselves as life does not always provide such quick rewards.
While students should not be bribed to do their work, helping students to see that if they put in effort, they get benefits will help their shortsighted minds not get bogged down in the huge issues of life. Giving them more manageable and understandable rewards helps them to understand that their effort is worth it and they will be more likely to put in effort next time. This rewards hard working students more than those who continue to whine and complain. This approach also encourages more students to become hard working students so that they too can benefit from the short term rewards that others are enjoying.
- Reframe grading to help students see their successes.
Even students who do care about their grades and do want to go to a good college may not have the ability to recognize that they are improving. Many students get very upset with repeatedly getting bad grades and feel that no matter how much they study, they can’t improve their grades.
This is a textbook example of learned helplessness as the student feels that no matter the action they take, they will still receive the negative result of a bad grade. This is one of the reasons many teachers and schools are against grading as a concept as it can make students too focused on the numbers and not focused enough on all of the new things they have learned over the course of the year.
Grading actually works both ways. While grades can actually cause learned helplessness as students may struggle to improve especially as receiving higher marks gets more difficult as the year goes on, grades can also be used to help students see that they actually are objectively improving and making progress. While removing grades may help students not get bogged down in negativity, it also prevents students from receiving objective feedback that they actually are improving.
When a student receives a grade of 70% at the beginning of the year and then a 70% on the midterm, they are going to view that as “making no progress”. While the teacher knows that a 70% on the first test is nothing compared to getting a 70% on a midterm, the student is simply going to focus on that number and not what it actually means.
Teachers should refocus grades as not a “level” to be achieved, but as a percentage of the new concepts that the students successfully learned. Instead of saying that they achieved at a “C” level, reframing the grade as a sign that the student successfully learned 70% of the new materials can help them see that even though they still did not understand everything, the number staying the same does not mean their learning has stayed the same. This will help students see that their efforts are not wasted even if they continually get the same grade.
Additionally, teachers should try to schedule in time to have individual meetings with students about their grades. Very rarely do students actually look and chart their grades over time in a class. Generally they are focused only on what they are looking at currently. So while a student may be upset about the 65% grade they received on a recent assignment, they will recognize that 65% is much better than their previous 50% and 56%.
Going over the numbers together in a private meeting helps students to see the bigger picture, something that is hard for young minds. Private meetings give an important chance to reframe what those numbers mean and give students a chance to see how they are progressing in their efforts over the entire semester or year.
- Recognize that students don’t enjoy complaining from learned helplessness.
One thing that the teacher needs to keep in mind is that students do not enjoy the whining. While many students complain at even the simplest tasks, this is not a sign that they enjoy complaining and are doing it to spite the teacher.
Instead, teachers should realize that students enjoy whining about as much as the teacher enjoys punishment. While teachers need to punish students who do wrong, it is still a very negative experience for both parties. Similarly, students who whine are not experiencing anything positive, but simply acting in the way that their brain feels is the most likely to get rewards or avoid things it views negatively such as work.
When students whine, it is a sign that whining has worked in the past. Whether it be parents who give in just to keep them quiet or teachers or administrators not wanting to push students “too far”, giving in when a student whines just teaches their mind that this is the behavior that gets them results.
Instead of getting angry at students who whine and complain, teachers should remain calm. Getting upset at students who are complaining just gives the behavior attention. This may also be something that the students are seeking in addition to wanting to avoid the work. Additionally, whining should never result in the teacher saying “alright alright” and giving in.
Generally, when students whine, they should be ignored. Giving positive or negative attention to whining only encourages more whining. Instead, teachers should give clear rewards, and stay firm with the expectations they have set. This will help students to see that whining won’t change their expectations, but also that there are clear benefits to trying a bit harder and getting their work done.
- Keep an eye out for true depression that needs further treatment.
Some students may still remain resistant and negative. While generally it is best to not give negative attitudes attention in class, that does not mean that they should be completely ignored by the teacher. Teachers should keep a quiet close eye on their most resistant students and ensure that what they are seeing is truly just learned helplessness and not a more serious mental issue.
As the studies above showed, learned helplessness and depression share many characteristics. While learned helplessness is more of a temporary state of learned behavior which discourages effort, depression is the chemical imbalance which makes a person remain continually in a state of subjective helplessness.
While the approaches above will generally still be helpful for students to learn to rewire their brains, students suffering from more serious depression will most likely need more individualized one on one care and therapy than the teacher can provide in class. Flagging these students for the school psychologist is an important step to make sure that students do not fall through the cracks.
It can be easy to dismiss any student negativity as learned helplessness, but reporting a persistent case can help catch students who really need more help. Even if nothing is done immediately, having reported the case once puts the student on the student support team’s radar. One report of a struggling student may not be enough for immediate action from a psychologist, but when a second and then third teacher also follow the advice above and flag the student, they are much less likely to be dismissed as simply having a bad day.
Conclusion
Learned helplessness can be frustrating for teachers, but it is important to understand that it can be improved. Students who are given attainable rewards and taught how to understand their grades will be better equipped to see the results of their efforts. Students are simply acting in ways that are based on what they have experienced before. If whining and complaining gets them what they want and lets them skip things they do not want to do, then they will continue to use these same approaches as they get older.
If instead, students are taught to focus on goals and recognize their improvements, they will become harder workers and be less likely to give up in their efforts in the future. Because they are less likely to give up and more likely to work harder, the chances of them seeing success are greatly increased. This is why students with more grit have better wellbeing and why it is so important for teachers to not just teach their subject, but teach students the importance and benefits of hard work.
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References
Hiroto, Donald S., and Martin E. Seligman. “Generality Of Learned Helplessness In Man.”. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, vol 31, no. 2, 1975, pp. 311-327. American Psychological Association (APA), https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076270.
Hou, Xiang-Ling et al. “Do Grittier People Have Greater Subjective Well-Being? A Meta-Analysis”. Personality And Social Psychology Bulletin, 2021, p. 014616722110534. SAGE Publications, https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211053453.
Miller, W.R. & Seligman, M.E., 1975. Depression and learned helplessness in man. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 84(3), pp.228–238.
Overmier, J. Bruce, and Martin E. Seligman. “Effects Of Inescapable Shock Upon Subsequent Escape And Avoidance Responding.”. Journal Of Comparative And Physiological Psychology, vol 63, no. 1, 1967, pp. 28-33. American Psychological Association (APA), https://doi.org/10.1037/h0024166.
