Psychopathology- cognitive explanations for depression Flashcards
What does the cognitive approach blame depression on
Ask a result of a disturbance in ‘thinking’.
They focus on an individual’s negative thoughts, irrational beliefs and misinterpretation of events as being the cause of depression
What did Beck three parts did Beck suggest for a cognitive vulnerability for depression
Negative triad
negative self-schemas
cognitive biases
What did Beck say people with depression become trapped in
A cycle of negative thoughts
What makes up the negative triad
Negative view of the self
Negative view of the world
Negative view of the future
According to Beck, negative views stem from what
Negative self-schemas
What is a self schemas
A package of ideas we have about ourselves
What type of schemas have people with depression developed
Negative self schemas
What is an ineptness schema
An expectation of failure
What is a self-blame schemas
Feeling responsible for all misfortunes
What are negative schemas further maintained by
Cognitive biases
What do cognitive biases cause
A misperception of reality
What is an arbitrary inference
A conclusion drawn without sufficient evidence.
What is minimisation
Minimising any positive events in life
What is overgeneralisation
Sweeping conclusions drawn on the basis of a single event
Ellis proposed that good mental health was the result of what
Rational thinking
What beliefs did Ellis argue were common in people with depression
Irrational beliefs
In Ellis’ ABC model what do each of the letters stand for
A- activating event
B- beliefs
C- consequence
In Ellis’ ABC model how do all the components effect each other
The activating event in which the response is affected by the individuals belief which results in the consequence
In the Temple Wisconsin study of cognitive vulnerability to depression, who was the sample group
Uni students
In the Temple Wisconsin study of cognitive vulnerability to depression, was any of the sample suffering from depression
No
In the Temple Wisconsin study of cognitive vulnerability to depression, what were participants tested on and how frequently
On a negative thinking test, in which a high score indicated negative thinking
Every two months for two years
In the Temple Wisconsin study of cognitive vulnerability to depression, what did the results show
Results for first 2 yrs showed 17% of those with high scores on negative thinking went on to experience a period of severe depression compared to 1% of those with low scores i.e. positive thinkers.
In the Temple Wisconsin study:
Results for first 2 yrs showed __% of those with high scores on negative thinking went on to experience a period of severe depression compared to _% of those with low scores i.e. positive thinkers.
17
1
Evaluating cognitive explanation for depression
- evidence
There is a wealth of evidence that supports the role of cognition in depression.
The Temple Wisconsin study of cognitive vulnerability to depression sampled Uni students, none of which were suffering with depression, and were assessed every few months for 2 years.
Results for first 2 yrs showed 17% of those with high scores on negative thinking went on to experience a period of severe depression compared to 1% of those with low scores i.e. positive thinkers.
This illustrates the significant role of cognition in cases of depression.
Evaluating the cognitive explanation for depression
- practical applications
The explanation of depression has led to useful practical applications that help society and those suffering from depression
Beck and Ellis’ cognitive explanations form the basis of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).
Irrational negative beliefs are challenged and this can help to reduce depressive symptoms
Therefore, it could be suggested that the high success rate of CBT validates the cognitive theories.
Evaluating cognitive explanations for depression
-incomplete explanation
It does not fully outline the steps and processes for how the sufferer came to think in this way in much detail.
Although negative thinking are symptoms of depression, how did this arise in the first place?
The cognitive approach is vague in establishing how this occurs and why certain people seem more susceptible to these type of thinking patterns than others.
This limits the extent to which we can practically use these theories and it could be argued that the cognitive explanation of depression is INCOMPLETE
Evaluating the cognitive explanation for depression
-could be argued to be more complete
While not holistic, the cognitive explanations do take into account other aspects, such as genes and environment.
Beck and Ellis both suggest that aspects of the environment contribute to the development of depression and negative thinking.
Ellis discusses activating events whereas Beck suggests people develop negative outlooks in life because of rejection in childhood e.g. from friends, parents or even teachers
This suggests that unlike the biological or learning approaches this offers a more complete explanation of depression.
Evaluating the cognitive explanation
-Better explanation from McGuffin
However, there may be better explanations for depression from the genetic explanation
McGuffin et al. (1996) found 46% concordance for depression in MZ (identical) twins compared with 20% DZ (non-identical) in total of 109 twin pairs with no evidence of the effect of shared environment.
This implies the cognitive explanation of depression can be seen as incomplete and reductionist.
