Final answer:
A person experiencing learned helplessness might say b. "no matter what I tried, nothing seemed to work," reflecting a belief that their efforts have no impact on outcomes, a central aspect of the concept of learned helplessness as described in the research by Martin Seligman.
Step-by-step explanation:
A person who is experiencing learned helplessness might say something that reflects a perception of uncontrollability and a sense that their actions do not matter. The statement that aligns with this concept is: "no matter what I tried, nothing seemed to work." This reflects the idea that regardless of the person's effort, the outcome remains negative and unchanged, which is a key component of learned helplessness.
Learned helplessness is a psychological condition where an individual believes they have no control over the situation and their actions have no effect on the outcome. Martin Seligman's research, with its roots in experiments conducted in the 1960s on dogs, has shown that when organisms learn that they are powerless to avoid negative situations, they may stop trying to alter those situations even when they do have the power to change them in the future. This passivity and lack of initiative can be linked to depression and a generalized expectation that outcomes are uncontrollable. The reformulated learned helplessness model suggests that how a person explains or attributes their failures or negative outcomes—whether as internal, stable, and global or not—significantly affects their susceptibility to learned helplessness and potentially to depression.