Learned Helplessness

One of the more controversial psychology experiments involved the concept of "Learned Helplessness." The experiment involved a dog that was put into a room in which the floor of that room could conduct an electric current and shock the dog. One half of the floors electric current was controlled by one switch and the other was controlled by a completely different switch.

When the experimenters flipped the switch starting an electric current on the side of the dog the dog would immediately (obviously) go to the other side of the room in order to avoid being shocked. The experimenters repeated this process of electrify the floor the dog was standing on and the dog would switch sides to safety.

After a while of repeating this cruel experiment the experimenters decided to flip both switches to the "on" position for a minute. The dog was alerted and like before tried to go to safety on the other side of the room. After realizing that the other side of the room did not provide the safety that it did before the dog laid down and continued being shocked even though the experimenters had turned off the electric current to the other side of the room.

This experiment goes to show what is called learned helplessness. The dog (subject) will continue to seek safety only if the subject thinks that there is a reason and a known payoff in which to seek the safety.