Sutherland and Singh (2004) focus on the relationship between students' inappropriate behaviors and academic failure, articulating how this relationship may be mediated by learned helplessness in a reciprocally negative reinforcing cycle. In responding to their work, the authors suggest a thread of disciplined inquiry and contextual framework for their research. They also note the need for clearer terminology in this area, the necessity of incorporating the broader context of motivation and how it relates to learning, and the need for a multivariate approach broader than the learned helplessness/problem behavior/failure cycle. Finally, they suggest a prototypical working model that might help support future research in this area. (Contains 1 figure.)