Uncontrollability as irreducible uncertainty

Abstract

This paper tests a prediction from the information-processing model of helplessness (Sedek & Kofta, 1990) that during exposure to uncontrollability people experience high levels of irreducible uncertainty. Participants were given either a solvable or unsolvable discrimination task consisting of five problems. After completion of each problem participants evaluated the probability of all solution hypotheses. Three times during the course of each problem, participants indicated the solution hypotheses they were considering at that point. As predicted (1) entropy of the hypothesis set (the uncertainty measure) was higher under unsolvable than solvable tasks; (2) a gradual reduction in the number of hypotheses was noted in the solvable but not unsolvable task condition; and (3) uncertainty was a reliable predictor of self-reported cognitive difficulties with thinking production and attention. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.