Abstract
Dogs exposed to inescapable shock in a harness later failed to escape in a shuttle box — prior experience taught that outcomes were independent of action.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Maier, S. F. (1967). Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(1), 1–9. DOI
Key findings
- Inescapable exposure — Prior inescapable shock interfered with later escape/avoidance in a new apparatus.
- Controllability hypothesis — Failures were interpreted as learned helplessness — the animal expected shock to continue regardless of response.
Application
When you preemptively call a goal unrealistic after old collapse, ask whether you learned no lever works in one arena and now generalize that verdict — pair with Agency and Realistic.