Scheuer, Cynthia

In view of evidence that female human subjects tend
to be more severely inhibited in subsequent performance by
frustration than are males, the author maintained that
when 11 learned helplessness" was elicited in humans, the
magnitude of the interference effect would be greater for
female subjects than for males. Subject sex and sex of
experimenter in two treatment conditions were manipulated
to give a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design. Half the subjects
received ten insoluble anagrams initially and half received
ten solubles. An analysis of error rates on a subsequent
set of 30 solubles revealed a brief interference effect
which dissipated after five soluble anagrams. A slight
tendency of females to show the hypothesized greater
susceptibility to the manipulation was not statistically
significant. Parameters of the initial inescapable failure
trials as well as factors which might have interacted with
subject sex were discussed.

Thirty-six rats were used to study the effects of
manipulating both the density and response contingency of
feedback during the extinction (OE) of discriminated shuttle-box
avoidance. Three operant groups had the opportunity to
receive response-produced feedback on either 100, 60, or
30 per cent of the extinction trials. Three yoked groups
received the' same number and pattern of feedback stimuli
as the operant groups, but independently of their own behavior.
Significant ordering was obtained between all operant and
all yoked groups, and between operant and yoked groups at
all three feedback percentage levels. An ordering trend was
obtained for the feedback percentage dimension, which was,
however, not significant. The results, however, clearly
supported the discrimination hypothesis and upheld the
importance of response produced stimulus change in the
maintenance of avoidance behavior.