| Summary: | Simulated learned helpless behavior was examined among gifted, gifted underachievers, and unselected children. Using the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility (IAR) Scale (Crandall, Katkovsky, & Crandall, 1965), after the children read a brief story and cast themselves in a failing role, the three groups of children were compared before and after the intervention (a week or two after the initial testing) on their positive and negative IAR scores. Learned helplessness theory would predict that helpless children would have high negative scores (attributing failure to themselves) and low positive scores (attributing success to external factors). Negative IAR scores did not differ or change across trials. Positive IAR scores for both gifted groups declined considerably over trials. The unselected group's positive IAR scores differed from those of both groups of gifted children in that they declined but not as drastically at posttest. All three groups' positive scores decreased to varying degrees across trials, indicating that nobody took personal responsibility for success after imagining themselves as a failure. In this respect, one aspect of learned helpless behavior was elicited. The results suggest that gifted children are capable of showing behavior which might indicate learned helplessness.
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