cognitive approach to explaining depression

Question 1

explain Aaron Beck’s (1967) negative triad

Answer 1

proposed their are 3 kinds of negative thinking that make people more vulnerable to becoming depressed. Adds to cognitive vulnerability.

These negative views lead a person to interpret their experiences in a negative way and so make them more vulnerable to depression.

Question 2

what are the three parts of the negative triad

Answer 2

1. Negative view of the world
2. Negative view of the future
3. Negative view of the self.

Question 3

explain what faulty information processing is

Answer 3

depressed people tend to look more in black and white where something is either all good or all bad

e.g. if I one 1 million pounds I would think ‘well last week someone won 10million’

Question 4

explain what negative self schema is

Answer 4

schema is a package of ideas and information developed through experience which act as a mental framework for the interpretation of sensory information.

self schema is a package of ideas about ones self- as its used to interpret the rest of the world if a person has a negative self schema they interpret all information about themselves in a negative way.

Question 5

does the negative thinking in the negative triad occur automatically?

Answer 5

yes

Question 6

explain the three parts of the negative triad

Answer 6

1. Negative view of the world- e.g ‘the world is a cold and hard place’- creates the impression that there is no hope anywhere
2. Negative view of the future- e.g. ‘there isn’t much chance the economy will get better’
3. negative view of the self- e.g. ‘I am a failure’ they confirm the emotions of low self-esteem.

Question 7

explain what Albert Ellis’s (1962) ABC model entails

Answer 7

proposed that good mental health is the result of having rational thinking, thinking in ways to be free from pain and suffering.

He used the ABC model to describe how irrational thoughts affect our behaviour and emotional state.

Question 8

What did Ellis define irrational thoughts as?

Answer 8

not as illogical or unrealistic thoughts but as any thought that interfere with us being happy and free from pain.

Question 9

state and explain the three parts to Ellis’s ABC model.

Answer 9

A - activating event
- irrational thoughts are triggered by an external event. When we experience negative events it produces irrational thoughts

B - Beliefs
- must success= ‘mustibation’ when you cant stand something going wrong. Utopianism is the belief that life is always meant to be fair.

C - consequences
- when an activating event triggers irrational beliefs there are both emotional and behavioural consequences. e.g. is someone believes they can never fail, when they do it triggers depression.

Question 10

what are the two parts of the cognitive approach to explaining depression

Answer 10

Beck’s negative triad

Ellis’s ABC model

Question 11

evaluate Beck’s negative triad

Answer 11

research support (strength)
- review by David Clark and Aaron Beck (1999) concluded that not only were these cognitive vulnerabilities more common in depressed people but they preceded the depression
- confirmed in a prospective study by Joseph Cohen et al (2019) where they tracked the development of 473 adolescents regularly measuring cognitive vulnerability and it was found that cognitive vulnerability later predicted depression.

Real world application (strength)
- in screening and treatment for depression
- Cohen at al (2019) allows psychologists to screen young people identifying those most at risk of depression in the future and monitoring them.
- understanding it can be applied to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) making them more resilient life events so its useful in clinical practice.

Question 12

evaluate Ellis’s ABC model

Answer 12

real world application (strength)
- can be used in treatment for depression
- REBT therapy- vigorously arguing with the depressed person to alter their irrational beliefs that are making them unhappy
- research to show it can change negative beliefs and relieve the symptoms (David et al. (2018)

Reactive and endogenous depression (limitation)
- it only explains reactive depression and not endogenous depression
- activating events=reactive depression however in many cases there seems to be no traceable event and its not obvious as to what made that person depressed- called endogenous depression
not helpful to explain all types of depression.