shocktothedog’sfeet.Theysaidthatasthedogjumpedhe
gavea“sharpanticipatoryyipwhichturnedintoayelpwhen
he landed on the electrifiedgrid.” They then blocked the
passagebetweenthecompartmentswithapieceofplateglass
and tested the dog again. The dog “jumped forward and
smashed his head against the glass.” The dogs began by
showing symptoms such as “defecation, urination, yelping
andshrieking,trembling,attackingtheapparatus,andsoon;
butaftertenortwelvedaysoftrialsdogswhowereprevented
from escaping shock ceased to resist. The experimenters
reportedthemselves“impressed”bythis,andconcludedthata
combination of theplate glass barrier and foot shock was
“very effective” in eliminating jumping by dogs.^34
Thisstudyshowedthatitwaspossibletoinducea stateof
hopelessnessanddespairbyrepeatedadministrationofsevere
inescapableshock.Such“learnedhelplessness”studieswere
further
refinedinthe1960s.OneprominentexperimenterwasMartin
SeligmanoftheUniversityofPennsylvania.Heelectrically
shockeddogsthrough asteelgridfloor withsuchintensity
and persistence thatthedogsstopped tryingto escapeand
“learned”tobehelpless.Inonestudy,writtenwithcolleagues
StevenMaierandJamesGeer,Seligmandescribeshiswork
as follows:
Whenanormal,naivedogreceivesescape/avoidancetraining
inashuttlebox,thefollowingbehaviortypicallyoccurs:atthe
onset of electric shock the dog runs frantically about,
defecating,urinating,andhowlinguntilitscramblesoverthe
barrierandsoescapesfromshock.Onthenexttrialthedog,
runningandhowling,crossesthebarriermorequickly,andso
on, until efficient avoidance emerges.