Learned helplessness - Psychological Experiment

Summary

In this educational video, participants are challenged with anagram puzzles, revealing a psychological experiment. The left side of the room is given unsolvable words, inducing 'learned helplessness', a state where past failure affects future attempts. This is contrasted with the right side, who successfully solve their anagrams. The instructor highlights the impact of perceived failure on confidence and motivation, using this to discuss the concept of learned helplessness in an academic context.

Takeaways

• 🧩 The activity involved solving anagrams by rearranging letters to form words.
• 🤚 The participants were instructed to raise their hands when they solved an anagram.
• 🔄 The first anagram was not solvable, creating a sense of difficulty and confusion among the participants.
• 👀 The second anagram was 'lemon' which was easily solved by one group, creating a contrast in experience.
• 🍉 The third anagram was 'sinorama' which was actually 'American', and was the same for both groups but perceived differently due to the previous experience.
• 🤯 The left side of the room felt a sense of learned helplessness after failing to solve the first two anagrams.
• 😔 Emotions like feeling stupid, rushed, and frustrated were expressed by the participants on the left side due to the perceived failure.
• 📉 The confidence of the participants on the left side was affected by their inability to solve the first two anagrams.
• 🧠 The concept of 'learned helplessness' was introduced, relating to the participants' reactions after failing at a task and generalizing that failure to other tasks.
• 📚 Learned helplessness is a term used in academic literature to describe the mindset where individuals apply a single failure to all future tasks.
• 🤝 The activity was designed to demonstrate the psychological impact of perceived failure on subsequent task performance and confidence.

Q & A

What is an anagram?

An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once.

What was the task given to the participants in the script?

The task was to solve anagrams by rearranging the given letters to form a word.

Why did the participants on the left side of the room struggle with the first two words?

The participants on the left side of the room were given anagrams that were unsolvable, which led to a sense of learned helplessness.

What is learned helplessness?

Learned helplessness is a psychological phenomenon where an individual feels powerless or hopeless, often after experiencing repeated failure or lack of control over a situation.

How did the participants on the left side of the room feel after seeing the right side raise their hands?

The participants on the left side felt emotions such as frustration, confusion, and a decrease in confidence, as they saw the right side of the room successfully completing the task.

What was the third word given to both sides of the room?

The third word given to both sides of the room was 'sinorama', which is an anagram for 'American'.

Why did the participants on the left side of the room have difficulty with the third word?

The participants on the left side of the room had difficulty with the third word due to the learned helplessness induced by their previous failures, which affected their confidence and performance.

What was the purpose of the exercise as described in the script?

The purpose of the exercise was to demonstrate the effects of learned helplessness and how it can impact performance and confidence in individuals.

How long did it take to induce learned helplessness in the left side of the room according to the script?

It took about 5 minutes to induce learned helplessness in the left side of the room.

What was the outcome of the exercise for the participants on the left side of the room?

The outcome was that the participants on the left side of the room experienced learned helplessness, which affected their ability to solve even solvable anagrams.

What was the main lesson the instructor wanted the participants to take away from the exercise?

The main lesson was to understand the impact of learned helplessness and how it can affect one's ability to perform tasks, even when they are capable of doing so.