Final answer:
Learned helplessness describes the giving up behavior observed in subjects exposed to inescapable negative consequences over which they feel no control. Originating from experiments by Seligman in the 1960s, it has implications for understanding depression and the importance of ethical standards in research applications.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that describes the behavior of giving up exhibited by people and animals exposed to negative consequences over which they feel they have no control is learned helplessness. This concept was first illustrated by psychologist Martin Seligman during experiments in the 1960s. Dogs that were subjected to inescapable electric shocks later did not attempt to escape when given the chance. They had developed a belief of powerlessness that affected their future responses to similar situations. Likewise, humans may exhibit learned helplessness when faced with uncontrollable negative life events, leading to depression, passivity, and a lack of initiative in future controllable situations.
Seligman and colleagues' reformulated model emphasized how causal attributions can foster learned helplessness. The attribution style a person adopts when explaining negative events can determine their likelihood of developing feelings of helplessness. Moreover, unethical applications of learned helplessness, such as those carried out by the U.S. military on detainees, highlight the importance of adhering to ethical standards in research and its applications. Learned helplessness continues to be a significant theoretical explanation for major depressive disorder in the current literature on psychological disorders.