The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression Flashcards
Name the 3 points on the negative triad.
Negative views of the self
Negative views of the world
Negative views of the future
How does the cognitive approach say depression is caused?
By faulty thinking
Why do people develop dysfunctional views of themselves?
Due to the triad
Give an example of a negative view of the world.
Nobody likes me
Give an example of a negative view of the future.
I’m never going to get a job.
Give an example of a negative view of the self.
I’m never going to pass my exams.
What are negative self schema?
A set of beliefs and expectations about the self which are pessimistic. Beck
How did Beck say we aquire negative self schema?
They may acquired during childhood through traumatic events.
Name 4 factors that contribute to faulty information processing.
Selective thinking
Over generalisation
Personalising
Black and white thinking
What is selective thinking?
Focusing on negative details while ignoring positive ones.
What is over generalisation?
During sweeping conclusions based on a single incident.
What is personalising in terms of responsibility?
Taking responsibility for the blame when unpleasant things happen.
What is black and white thinking?
Seeing everything in terms of success and failure.
What is the A in Ellis’ ABC model?
Activating event
What is the B in Ellis’ ABC model?
Beliefs
What is the C in Ellis’ ABC model?
Consequences
What are activating events?
Events that cause negative thinking.
What type of thoughts might a depressed person experience?
Irrational
What are the consequences of an activating event?
Undesirable emotions/behaviour
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…
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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?
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,
