Final answer:
Mr. Sternberg's apathy and cessation of efforts to survive in a Nazi concentration camp exemplify 'learned helplessness,' a psychological state where individuals feel no control over adversities, leading to depression and loss of initiative. Martin Seligman's research on the phenomenon in the 1960s started with animals, and its significance has since been understood in human behavior and even applied unethically in torture.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mr. Sternberg's reaction of becoming apathetic and giving up on survival during his imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp illustrates a psychological phenomenon known as learned helplessness. This concept was initially studied by psychologist Martin Seligman in the 1960s, who found that animals subjected to inescapable adverse events would eventually stop trying to avoid the stimuli, demonstrating a passive and defeated behavior. Later experiments and studies, including those involving human participants, showed similar effects, leading to the understanding that in conditions where individuals feel they have no control over adverse events, they may develop learned helplessness, potentially leading to depression and a loss of initiative.
Learned helplessness has profound implications beyond experimental research, as shown by its application in unethical ways, such as in torture programs to induce compliance. The sense of helplessness and compliance seen in the mentioned scenario with Mr. Sternberg is not a result of observational learning, negative reinforcement, latent learning, or partial reinforcement, but rather a direct consequence of enduring perceived unavoidable and inescapable brutality. This response exemplifies how external conditions can lead to internal psychological states that significantly diminish a person's will to change their circumstances or to continue engaging in survival efforts.