Describe learned helplessness. How is it developed in laboratory animals, and how does it help us to understand human depression?
What will be an ideal response?
Sample Answer: Martin Seligman described the phenomenon of learned helplessness, which occurs when animals encounter conditions over which they have no control. If rats are confronted with a situation in which they receive occasional foot shocks, they can function well if they learn to cope with these shocks by doing something to avoid them (say, pressing a lever). But if the animals learn that their behavior has no effect on their environment-sometimes they get shocked and sometimes they don't, no matter what they do-they become "helpless"; they give up attempting to cope and seem to develop the animal equivalent of depression.Seligman theorized that the same phenomenon may happen with people who are faced with uncontrollable stress. People become depressed if they "decide" or "think" they can do little about the stress in their lives, even if it seems to others that there is something they could do. This finding illustrates, again, the necessity of recognizing that different people process information about events in different ways. These cognitive differences are an important component of psychopathology.
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There is strong research support for Piaget's notion that
a. deductive reasoning emerges in adolescence. b. utopian thinking emerges by age 8 or 9. c. young children can think hypothetically. d. sophisticated use of symbols, such as "x," does not occur until middle age.
When message recipients use central route processing, which of the following will be true?
a. Difficult messages will be more persuasive than easily learned messages. b. Memorable messages will be more persuasive than forgettable ones. c. Weak messages will engender more favorable responses than strong messages. d. Elaboration of message content will be objective and unbiased.
In the U.S., it is estimated that ____ of children are diagnosed with ADHD. Boys are about ____ more likely than girls to have ADHD
a. 7%; 2 times b. 2%; 2 times c. 10%; 3 times d. 15%; 6 times
Is a constant a periodic signal? Explain why it is or is not periodic and, if it is periodic what is its fundamental period?
What will be an ideal response?