Article : FAILURE TO ESCAPE TRAUMATIC SHOCK1 MARTIN E: P. SELIGMAN 2 AND STEVEN F. MAIER
Journal of Experimental Psychology
Critical Thinking Assignment
For this assignment, you will choose one of the three classic psychology experiment publications posted on BB. These classic articles all share a common theme of highlighting how behavior is influenced by different situations, including Conditioning,Imitation/Modeling, and Learned Helplessness. Reading these articles will tie well with material we cover regarding learning and behavior. Note that these articles are old. Therefore the language may also be old, as well as the format and style of the article.
For the article you choose to read, you will answer the corresponding questions asked below in a succinct/concise 2 page (typed,single spaced) paper. The questions you will answer are meant to be thought provoking - they will require you to give explanations ‘outside the box'.
THE 3 ARTICLES AND THEIR QUESTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM:
1. "Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models" by Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1963): This is one of the first classic experiments conducted to show how children learn simply by watching others, specifically through imitation and modeling. Children watched adults act aggressively toward a toy during this study, and researchers recorded each child's behavior afterward.
As you read about this study, notice the age of the children, the gender of the children and any effects gender had on the results, the different conditions of behavior, who performed the observable behavior, and other key components involved in this study. In your critical thinking paper, reflect on the study and discuss the questions presented below:
A. In your paper, describe the importance of this study. What were the key findings, and what did you learn?
1. 3 points for explaining overall importance of the study. Here, the student should describe the big picture, what the results mean, and overall the reasons why this study was so famous.
2. 2 points for explaining the key findings (at least two key findings, 1 point per finding).
3. 1 point for explaining what the student learned.
B. Although the article was written years ago, do you think the findings are still applicable today? Explain why or why not.
1. 1 point for saying yes or no.
2. 4 points for explaining the reason. The more thought-out the answer, the better the answer. If the student just gives one short reason to support their answer, then this will only be partial credit (2 or less points). If they have two or more reasons to support their answer, then this is getting closerto full credit (4 points).
C. Explain what similar situations exist today in an everyday real-world situation, and how these situations could be related to Bandura's study. For example, there are many views about the relationship between video games and violence, violent movies and violent behavior, and other environmental influences that may encourage aggressive behavior of children. Make sure to connect the findings from Bandura's study with how they could be applied today.
1. 2 points for at least one example that would be a similar situation to Bandura's study. It can include what was mentioned in the question (e.g. video games) as long as the student expands on this. Other examples would be helpful.
2. 4 points for connecting the findings from the study with the student's example. Specifically, this question asks to APPLY the findings from the study to other situations.
D. Do you believe aggressive modeling is a strong influence for aggression? Why or Why not?What other factors can cause a child to be aggressive, and are these factors more impactful than modeling? Explain.
1. 2 points for giving yes or no, then EXPLAINING why.
2. 1 point for giving an example of something else that could increase aggressive behavior.
3. 1 point for indicating which situation is worse (modeling, or another example) for making children aggressive.
E. Do you think it matters who the child is modeling? For example, in the paper the actors were adults. Would it matter if the actors were children, teenagers, the parents of the child, or anyone else? In other words, do you think certain people are more influential than others?Give full explanation to support your answer. (4pts)
2. "Failure to escape traumatic shock" by Seligman and Maier" (1967). This study examined the situation of learned helplessness, which describes how people feel when they believe they can no longer escape a bad situation, even when an opportunity is presented. This study induced learned helplessness in dogs by using electrical shocks, and examined what situations increased theirbehavior of learned helplessness.
This classic study has also been nicknamed the "yoked dog" study. As you read this article, think about learned helplessness, and how the results apply to people. Also, think about how people respond to ‘negativeness' in their life, and how this may be related to learned helplessness. As you read this paper, reflect on the components of this study, the importance of the findings, and the implications for real-world applications. In your reflection, think about and answer these questions below:
A.In your paper, describe the importance of this study. What were the key findings, and what did you learn?
1. 3 points for explaining overall importance of the study. Here, the student should describe the big picture, what the results mean, and overall the reasons why this study was so famous.
2. 2 points for explaining the key findings (at least two key findings, 1 point per finding).
3. 1 point for explaining what the student learned.
B. If you were able to revise this study so that it involved humans, what methods would you implement to try to see if humans would behave the same way as the dogs? In this situation, assume methods you would implement are ethical in that the benefits from your study would outweigh the risks (in other words, do not worry if your methods would technically be considered "ethical". In a real situation, this most likely would be unethical if you were causing a person harm).
In this revised experiment, you can also consider examining people who are already in similar situations in their life (not necessarily getting shocked everyday, of course).
1. 2 points for thinking critically about what you could do to someone to induce learned helplessness.
2. 2 points for explaining how your methods would create learned helplessness. In other words, you have to demonstrate clear understanding of what learned helplessness is, and demonstrate how you would know if someone had developed learned helplessness.
C. The results of this study showed a clear difference in behavior between dogs that escaped and dogs that continued to be shocked. Explain why this happened. In other words, why did some dogs leave, and why did some dogs stay?
1. 2 points for discussing the methods used in each of the situations.
2. 2 points for explaining correctly the answer to this question, and specifically the factors that were involved.
D. Based on these results, what can you infer about how this may relate to human behavior? Specifically, how could this explain how people respond to negative events in their life?
1. All of these points go to the ability to critically think about the results and being able to apply them to human behavior.
E. Although this study used intense methods, such as causing animals unavoidable pain, think about how these methods could relate to people in an everyday real world situation. What types of situations could someone be in that would relate to this study? Do you think that these results would only apply to a person who is constantly having very negative experiences, or could these results also apply to anyone during any time of conflict? Explain.
1 3 points for giving an example of people who may be in a state of learned helplessness, and specifically for explaining what situations could induce learned helplessness.
2. 3 points for answering and explaining whether you believe learned helplessness only results when a person is constantly experiencing negative events, or if this could happen after just occasional bad situations.
3. "Conditioned Emotional Reactions by Watson and Rayner"(1920). This is the classic case study of Little Albert. This study aimed to investigate how early environments, specifically during childhood, could change a child's behavior using classical conditioning. As you read this article, notice the behavior of the infant before he was conditioned compared to after he was conditioned. Think about how this conditioned response may also spread to other objects, and how it may influence future behavior. As you read this paper, reflect on the components of this study, the importance of the findings, and the implications for real-world applications. In your reflection, think about and answer these questions below:
A. In your paper, describe the importance of this study. What were the key findings, and what did you learn? (6pts)
1. 3 points for explaining overall importance of the study. Here, the student should describe the big picture, what the results mean, and overall the reasons why this study was so famous.
2. 2 points for explaining the key findings (at least two key findings, 1 point per finding).
3. 1 point for explaining what the student learned.
B. Think about, and explain, the reason the authors were interested in creating a fear response in little Albert. What were they trying to investigate, and why was this fear conditioning important in their study? Answer this question more outside the box, rather than just restating the immediate goal of producing fear of specific objects for little Albert. (5pts)
1. 2 points for explaining why authors wanted to condition Little Albert.
2. 2 points for explaining the background research (found in the introduction) that prompted the researchers to look at emotional conditioning.
3. 1 point for explaining the importance of why fear was chosen as the behavior to condition.
C. Do you believe that if children are conditioned to fear objects or situations (or even people), that this fear will persist as they get older? Could this be one of the key building blocks for future behavior, or do you think conditioned responses could be outgrown? Why? Explain.
1. 1 point for answering the first part (do early learned behaviors persist into older years?)
2. 1 point for answering if conditioned responses could be outgrown.
3. 2 points for explaining why or why not.
D. The authors were able to successfully create fear in little Albert, but did not discuss trying to eliminate that fear. If you were involved in this study and responsible for trying to eliminate or reduce little Albert's fear responses to all the items he became fearful of, what would you do? What type of treatment would you implement for little Albert? (4pts)
1. This is a critical thinking question and will require thinking outside the box.Importantly, the student will have to come up with a systematic way to teach the child to ‘unlearn' his fear.
2. Explain why this technique would work to reduce the fear.
E. Apply the story of little Albert in today's terms. Think about everyday real-world situations that people experience, which could cause similar reactions as little Albert had in this study. Explain what current situations people might be in that are similar to this study. Is there anything that can be done for these people, and if so what would you suggest to help these people with conditioned fear responses?
1. 3 points for giving an example of someone who may be conditioned to have a specific type of emotional response.
2. 3 points for explaining how you would reduce the conditioned responses. This may be very similar to the above answer, but this time you are applying it to an every-day real-world situation.
*note: The end of this article includes argument statements against Sigmund Freud and his followers. During this time, Freud was a prominent figure in psychology that claimed the basis of behavior was a result of repressed sexual urges or situations. Watson was against Freud's claims.