The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression

Question 1

Name the 3 points on the negative triad.

Answer 1

Negative views of the self
Negative views of the world
Negative views of the future

Question 1

How does the cognitive approach say depression is caused?

Answer 1

By faulty thinking

Question 2

Why do people develop dysfunctional views of themselves?

Answer 2

Due to the triad

Question 3

Give an example of a negative view of the world.

Answer 3

Nobody likes me

Question 4

Give an example of a negative view of the future.

Answer 4

I’m never going to get a job.

Question 5

Give an example of a negative view of the self.

Answer 5

I’m never going to pass my exams.

Question 6

What are negative self schema?

Answer 6

A set of beliefs and expectations about the self which are pessimistic. Beck

Question 6

How did Beck say we aquire negative self schema?

Answer 6

They may acquired during childhood through traumatic events.

Question 7

Name 4 factors that contribute to faulty information processing.

Answer 7

Selective thinking
Over generalisation
Personalising
Black and white thinking

Question 8

What is selective thinking?

Answer 8

Focusing on negative details while ignoring positive ones.

Question 9

What is over generalisation?

Answer 9

During sweeping conclusions based on a single incident.

Question 10

What is personalising in terms of responsibility?

Answer 10

Taking responsibility for the blame when unpleasant things happen.

Question 11

What is black and white thinking?

Answer 11

Seeing everything in terms of success and failure.

Question 12

What is the A in Ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 12

Activating event

Question 13

What is the B in Ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 13

Beliefs

Question 14

What is the C in Ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 14

Consequences

Question 15

What are activating events?

Answer 15

Events that cause negative thinking.

Question 16

What type of thoughts might a depressed person experience?

Answer 16

Irrational

Question 17

What are the consequences of an activating event?

Answer 17

Undesirable emotions/behaviour

Question 18

Explain the strength of there being research support for the negative triad.
How might cognitive vulnerability predispose a person to becoming depressed?
What did Beck and Clark find about cognitive vulnerability?
Beck and Clarks findings were confirmed by Cohen, who studied how many adolescents and why?
It was found that cognitive vulnerability predicts…

Answer 18

Cognitive vulnerability may predispose a person to becoming depressed, for example, through faulty thinking and negative self-schema. Beck and Clark found out that cognitive vulnerability is not only more common in depressed people, but also precedes the depression. This was confirmed in a study by Cohen who tracked 473 adolescent s by regularly measuring their cognitive vulnerability. It was found that cognitive vulnerability predicted later depression. This shows a link between the two.

Question 19

Explain the strength of Beck and Ellis’s model having real world application.
What are the benefits of assessing cognitive vulnerability in young people? What can this prevent?
Understanding cognitive vulnerability can be applied to which type of therapy?
What therapy has Ellis’s model led to the development of?
- What happens in this type of therapy?

Answer 19

Cohen concluded that assessing cognitive vulnerability allows psychologists to screen young people, identifying those most at risk of developing depression in the future. Understanding cognitive vulnerability means it can be applied to CBT treatments, which helps the cognitions of vulnerable people to be altered. Ellis’ model has also led to cognitive therapies, such as REBT. This involves the client and therapist arguing to prove the clients irrational thoughts wrong. This therefore shows the value of Beck and Ellis’s models in the real world.

Question 20

Explain the limitiation of Ellis’s ABC model only explaining reactive depression rather than endogenous depression.
What is reactive depression caused by?
How are most cases of depression different to reactive depression?

Answer 20

Reactive depression is where depression is caused by life events. However, many cases of depression aren’t traceable to life events, and the reason for the depression isn’t always obvious. This means that Ellis’ model is less useful when explaining depression, as it is only a partial model.

Question 21

Explain the limiation of there being alternative explanations for Beck and Ellis’s model.
How does the biological approach explain depression?
What does this suggest about how depression should be treated?
What drugs are used to treat depression?
What does this alternative explanation suggest about the cognitive approach to treating depression?

Answer 21

The biological approach states that depression is caused by genes, neurochemistry and biological structures. This suggests that depression should be treated biologically through drugs. This is done by prescribing patients with SSRIs which raises the serotonin levels of the depressed person, and these drugs are proven to be effective. This shows that the cognitive approach is insufficient at explaining the cause of depression because if the SSRI drugs work, this implies there is a biological cause that the approach ignores,