Learned helplessness and reinforcement responsibility in children
Carol Dweck and N. D. Reppucci tested how a low expectation of reinforcement and a low expectation of control affect performance on an achievement task. Forty fifth-graders received solvable problems from one adult and unsolvable problems from another, then solvable problems in a test phase. Many children who had met the unsolvable problems stopped working once problems became solvable, although they had solved nearly identical problems for the other adult. The largest declines were among children who took less personal responsibility for outcomes and who attributed success or failure to ability rather than effort. Children who kept trying through prolonged failure emphasised effort, and boys did so more than girls. The authors discuss implications for strategies of changing behaviour.
Carol Dweck and N. D. Reppucci tested how a low expectation of reinforcement and a low expectation of control affect performance on an achievement task. Forty fifth-graders received solvable problems from one adult and unsolvable problems from another, then solvable problems in a test phase. Many children who had met the unsolvable problems stopped working once problems became solvable, although they had solved nearly identical problems for the other adult. The largest declines were among children who took less personal responsibility for outcomes and who attributed success or failure to ability rather than effort. Children who kept trying through prolonged failure emphasised effort, and boys did so more than girls. The authors discuss implications for strategies of changing behaviour.
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Dweck, C. S., & Reppucci, N. D. (1973). Learned helplessness and reinforcement responsibility in children. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 25(1), 109-116. doi:10.1037/h0034248 https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034248