Dog Troubles Dog Days with commentary: See Dr. Irene's Verbal Abuse Site! Abraham Lincoln Didn't Quit Puppies for Sale This boy was certainly persistent. Dog recording. These dogs are acting normally. Learned helplessness. More on Seligman's work on learned helplessness. The Parable of the Insane Dog Breeder : Shame Hawaiian Dog Joke But the Dogs.... Circus Elephants
This is what my wife Linda and I say to each other, when facing
a similar challenge in a new situation. Even though we might have
failed before, we remind ourselves that this is a different situation,
and this time, we just might succeed.
Our quote refers to a famous experiment that Martin E. P. Seligman
performed during the late 1960's with a dog placed in a shuttlebox.
A shuttlebox, is basically a box with two compartments, with a
low fence separating them. When a normal dog is placed into one
side of the box, and given a harmless electrical shock, the dog
will escape by jumping over the barrier to the other side. If
the dog is shocked again, the dog will again escape by jumping
over the barrier to the original side. With a normal dog, this
behavior will continue ad infinitum. The normal dog will always
try to escape from the shock, and always jump over the fence.
However, what Seligman found, is that when a dog is restrained
inside a bag and repeatedly given the same harmless electrical
shock, the dog learns that it cannot escape from the shock. Now,
when this so trained dog is placed in the new situation of a shuttlebox
and given a shock, the dog does not jump over the fence, but instead,
whimpers in the corner as he receives the shock. The learning
of inescapable shock is generalized to all situations. Even though
the other side of the compartment is in plain view of the dog,
the dog does not realize it can go over and escape the shock.
Thus, Seligman formulated the theory of "learned helplessness."
He suggested that much of society's ills, result from people learning
to be helpless. I see it all the time, children and adults who
don't want to try.
There is a simple cure. When such a trained dog is given the shock,
and the dog is simultaneously pushed or led over the barrier,
it learns that in this new situation, it can escape the shock.
After a few sessions of being pushed over the fence while receiving
the shock, the dog once again behaves normally and jumps over
the fence when shocked. It's behavior can no longer be distinguished
from that of a normal dog which never had the experience. Similarly,
with a child or adult, the cure is to demonstrate that they can
do it, even if you have to lead them through the process a few
times.
Others have learned this lesson too:
"Never give up. Never give up. Never give up!" Winston
Churchill's famous words during World War II.
One caveat: the belief of never giving up (If at first you don't
succeed, try, try, try again) is strongly ingrained in our culture.
But, there are times when this belief fails us.
God, grant me
The Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can, and
Wisdom to know the difference.
Last updated 20 October 2000
Copyright ©
1998-9 by Duen
Hsi Yen, All rights reserved.
E-mail: yen@noogenesis.com
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