Recent work has shown that unpredictable and/or uncontrollable events can produce a variety of cognitive, affective, and somatic disturbances to the organism. These disturbances are compared to and found to be quite similar to the symptoms of the classic cases of experimental neurosis described by Pavlov, Gantt, Liddell, Masserman, and Wolpe.…

Attempts to demonstrate performance impairments following exposure to an uncontrollable event, to investigate the effects of such exposure on mood, and examines the question of cross-situational generality of the induced impairments. (Author/RK)

The reformulated learned helplessness model of depression (Abramson, Seligman, Teasdale 1978) was examined. Argues that unless it is possible to specify the conditions under which a given attribution will be made, the model becomes circular and lacks predictive power. Discusses Abramson et al.'s suggestions for therapy and prevention. (Editor/RK)

This study was undertaken to extend the learned helplessness phenomenon to a clinical population and to test the competing hypotheses of Seligman and Lewinsohn. 96 male hospitalized psychiatric and medical patients were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions. Results replicate the learned helplessness phenomenon in a group of…

Three studies, testing predictions derived from Seligman's helplessness model of depression and generally supported by earlier research, are reported. The first addressed the finding that depressed individuals evidence a perception of noncontingency, the second tested the prediction that undergraduates in whom helplessness had been induced would…

Six laboratory experiments on learned helplessness and depression in humans reported by Seligman and his colleagues were critically reviewed. A number of methodological and conceptual problems were discussed. Suggests that it is important for psychologists to scrutinize psychological theories in order to assess their conceptual clarity and…

The effects of recalling past successes on the deficits in learned helplessness and depression were examined and, for learned helplessness, compared with those of real success. Results suggest real success does not have its therapeutic effects by modifying attributions for failure toward external factors. (Editor)

Examines three issues that are important in extending the learned helplessness model to clinical depressive disorders: first, the heterogeneity of clinical manifestations inherent in the depressive disorders, second, the process of constructing models for clinical depressive groups, and third, the problems involved in defining and identifying…

Examines the relative effectiveness of either partial or total success training as a preventive agent against the debilitating effect of noncontingent reinforcement. (Author/RK)

Two cognitive models of depression have attracted considerable attention recently: Seligman's (1975) learned helplessness model and Beck's (1967) cognitive schema approach. Describes each model and, in two studies, evaluates the assumption that depression is associated with systematic distortion in cognition regarding causal and controlling…

The learned helplessness model of depression predicts that any effective treatment for reactive depression should also reverse performance deficits associated with experimentally induced helplessness, and vice versa. This study tests that prediction with college students who were exposed to experimental manipulations designed to induce…