cognitive explanation for depression

Question 1

limitation:research has challenged the cognitive view that depression is defined by irrational thoughts

Answer 1

E:alloy and abrahmson found that depressed people gave more accurate estimates of the likelihood of a disaster than the non depressed group. he called this “sadder but wiser effect”
E:this challenges the view that depressed people are irrational thinkers as they are able to make more rational judgements about the future .[however this critics only works if we define irrational thinking as inaccurate thinking ]
L:this study does not provide support for the claim that depressed people are irrational ,challenging the central claim of cognitive explanation of depression.

Question 2

strength:there is research support for becks cognitive explanation of depression

Answer 2

E:grazoli and Terry found that pregnant women assessed as having cognitive vulnerabilities were more likely to develop post-natal depression after giving birth than pregnant women who were assessed as not having cognitive vunlurabilities
E:these findings can be explained through becks cognitive explanation of depression.beck believed that the cognitive vulnerabilities would have created a negative framework for interpreting life events (e.g. having a child)which would in turn increase their likelihood of developing depression after giving birth. [however this explanation needs to be treated with caution because pregnant women are not representative of the general population]