Final answer:
Learned helplessness is a condition where individuals feel their actions do not affect the environment, leading to passivity or depression, as observed in Seligman's experiments on dogs. Humans and even some other species demonstrate this cognitive phenomenon, showing that negative experiences can lead to a lack of initiative and control. Cognitive learning plays a significant role in the human experience, but it is not exclusive to humans.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept of learned helplessness is a cognitive process where individuals perceive their actions as having no effect on the environment, leading to passivity and depression. This cognitive phenomenon was first observed in animals, but it's often associated with human behavior. Martin Seligman's classic experiments in the 1960s demonstrated that when dogs experienced unavoidable electric shocks, they later would not try to escape from shocks even when escape was possible. This lack of initiative mirrors human depression in some cases, where people feel unable to control negative events and thus stop trying to change their circumstances.
Humans, with advanced cognitive capabilities, are indeed able to develop the expectation that their behavior might not affect the environment, which can result in learned helplessness. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that such cognitive processes are exclusive to humans, as similar patterns have been observed in other species. Cognitive learning, the use of mental processes to manipulate information, is particularly prominent in humans due to our complex language, but it is not solely a human trait.
The notion that only humans can develop an expectation of ineffectiveness in their interactions with the environment is a subject of debate. Both classical and operant conditioning are shown to be less efficient compared to cognitive learning methods such as imitation or instruction-obeying, especially in intelligent species. The full understanding of the cognitive expectations related to learned helplessness and their link to behavior remains an ongoing and intricate field of study in psychology.