DEPRESSION
Cognitive explanations of depression
Ao2
 What did it show?
 ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
 ETHICS
 ANTHROPOMORPHIC
SELIGMAN
GROUP ONE– Harnessed up and then let go.
GROUP TWO - Dogs subjected to ELECTRIC SHOCK (with no
way of controlling this)
Day TWO
Dogs then placed in a SHUTTLE BOX – The boxes were split into
two sides, one where dogs were subjected to electric shocks,
one where the dogs were safe.
Could avoid shocks by jumping across barrier.
Group one dogs jumped over.
WHAT DO YOU THINK GROUP TWO DOGS DID?
HIROTO, 1974
PPT’s exposed to LOUD, UNPLEASANT NOISE which they
couldn’t turn off.
Faced in front of a FINGER SHUTTLE BOX (had a handle of
the top)
Moving handle stopped noise.
When NOISE began they PASSIVELY ACCEPTED IT
PPT’s who hadn’t been exposed to
noise learned to move the handle
and stop the noise.
Seligman’s hopelessness theory of
depression

An attribution is an explanation of
why something happens (the cause
of behaviour)

Depression results from the
explanations people give for their
behaviours.
Depressed people attribute behaviour
to three causes
1) Internal –coming from withinblame themselves
2) Stable – an enduring trait-things
will always be that way
3) Global – affects all aspects of life
Example
“I’m inadequate,
I will always be
inadequate and
I am inadequate
at everything”
Evidence for
Metalsky (1987) looked at students who did badly
in their psychology exam.
Two days after, those who attributed failure to
internal, stable and global causes continued to be
mildly depressed.
Students who made different attributions
e.g. ‘the exam was really hard’ had recovered.
AO2 – LEARNED HELPLESSNESS
CAUSE or EFFECT? – Does depression cause
learned helplessness?
ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY – e.g. Hiroto and
Seligman
Evidence against
 Cannot generalise Metalsky’s study to major depressive
disorder which is more severe.
 Cannot explain where attributions come from in the first
place – problems with addressing this.
 Do attributions precede or follow depression – difficult to
establish cause and effect.
 Often done in LABS (e.g. Hiroto and Seligman)
 When done with humans, samples are often STUDENTS –
SAMPLE BIAS.
 Much evidence comes from ATTRIBUTIONAL BIAS
QUESTIONNAIRE - some researchers believe forces
people into a type of thinking that doesn’t reflect that of
real life (ANDERSON ET AL, 1994)
Beck’s cognitive theory of depression
 Emotions are controlled by cognitive schemas
(mental constructions of the world).
 People’s experiences are understood in the light
of these schemas.
 Schemas develop as a result of childhood
experience.
Beck’s cognitive theory of depression
 Emotions are controlled by cognitive schemas
(mental constructions of the world).
 People’s experiences are understood in the light
of these schemas.
 Schemas develop as a result of childhood
experience.
Negative thinking
 People who become depressed have negative
cognitive schemas
 This can lead to errors in thinking. Examples
include overgeneralisation or selective
abstraction.
Example
 OVERGENERALISATION – drawing a conclusion
from a particular event and applying it generally
 SELECTIVE ABSTRACTION – forming
conclusions based on isolated detail whilst
ignoring contradictory evidence
Cognitive triad
Errors in thinking can produce a negative cognitive
triad – negative views of (1) self (2) world and (3)
future
“I am worthless, the world is a miserable place,
the future is hopeless”
Evidence for
 Research indicates that compared to
nondepressed people, depressed
individuals have more negative thoughts
about themselves, the world and the
future.
Evidence against
 However, does negative thinking precede the onset of
depression or does it result from it.
 According to Davison & Neale (1998) ‘ depression can
make thinking more negative, and negative thinking can
probably cause and worsen depression’.
LONGITUDINAL STUDIES
More of these are needed
BARLOW and DURAND (1999)
Temple Wisconsin study - non-depressed university
students
First two years of this study suggests NEGATIVE thinking
precedes DEPRESSION.
17% of high risk ppts (high scores
on negative thinking) at the
beginning of the study started
went on to develop depression as
opposed to 1% of low risk ppt’s
(low scores on negative thinking)
Evaluation of cognitive theory
takes account of cognitions and looks at
depression from the patients perspective.
Important to be patient focused. Cognitions may
vary from person to person.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS– success of CBT based
on Beck’s theory (used extensively on the NHS)
 CAUSE and EFFECT issues
ETHICAL ISSUES– blames the individual for their own
negative thoughts
 REDUCTIONIST
DIATHESIS-STRESS MODEL
Interaction between DIATHESIS (predisposition) and STRESS
(from the environment)
Caused by ‘TRIGGERS’.
Stressful events may lead to depression.
WEISSMAN et al, 1991 – depression rates from people who
are SEPARATED/DIVORCED is 3 TIMES HIGHER than in
married people.
TAKES INTO ACCOUNT different theories
(e.g. Lock and key, genetics) but also
accounts for ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS.