Quick Write

What is this quote meant to mean? Is there a way that we can apply this to the cognitive perspective?

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

William Shakespeare

PSYCHOLOGY 4.11The Cognitive View of Depression“The Power of Positive (non-faulty)

Thinking)”

Our Goal for Today

That when you leave you will be able to discuss negative thinking and its possible role in depression.

What is the cognitive explanation for abnormal behavior?

The Cognitive View of Depression

Cognitive theorists believe that people with depression constantly interpret events in negative ways.

These perspectives lead to their disorders.

The two most influential cognitive theories relating to depression are the theories of negative thinking and learned helplessness.

Negative thinking

Theorist Aaron Beck believes that negative thinking lies “at the heart of depression”.

Other cognitive theorists, such as Albert Ellis, also point out maladaptive thinking as a key to depression.

Beck’s theory is most often associated with the disorder. According to Beck, the of maladaptive attitudes (cognitive triad), errors in thinking, and automatic thoughts combine to produce depression

Maladaptive Attitudes

Beck believes that people develop maladaptive thoughts as they get older.

Their attitudes are shaped by the social influences in their lives.

These attitudes lead to thoughts like: “My worth is tied to the tasks I perform”.

Unfortunately, failure is almost inevitable in life.

These attitudes become schemas by which every experience is evaluated.

Cognitive Triad

These negative schemas may lie dormant for years.

Later in life, upsetting situations can trigger a new round of negative thinking.

According to Beck, the thinking usually takes three forms: The individuals are constantly reinterpreting…

1. their experiences 2. their futures 3. themselves …all in negative ways that lead towards depression.

This ultimately leads to feelings of undesirability, worthlessness, and inadequacy.

Errors in Thinking

Repeated errors in logic that help maintain the cognitive triad.

5 common errors in thinking (logic)

1. arbitrary inferences 2. minimize/magnify 3. selective abstraction 4. personalization 5. overgeneralization

1. Arbitrary Inferences

Huge leaps of logic lead to negative conclusions based on little or no evidence.

EX: That woman moved away from me on the bus because I smell.

2. Tendency to minimize positive experiences and maximize the

negative EX: Minimizing the positive= The “A” I

received on my exam was because the professor feels sorry for me.

Maximizing the negative= I have to miss one class, I will never be able to keep up. I should just give up.

3. Selective Abstraction

A person focuses on one negative detail of a situation while ignoring the larger context.

My teacher commented on my paper and said it was good, but needed a lot of work on spelling. I am a horrible writer.

4. Overgeneralization

Broad conclusions are drawn from small or insignificant events.

EX: I missed my free throw today…I will never be able to play basketball.

5. Personalization

A person incorrectly points to themselves as the cause of a negative event.

EX: My parents divorced because I’m a bad person.

Automatic Thoughts

“A steady train of unpleasant thoughts that keep suggesting to them that they are inadequate and hopeless.”

EX: I’m worthless I’ll never amount to anything I let everyone down

These thoughts are “automatic” and seemingly endless.

Research related to negative thinking

Research seems to support Beck’s theory of the “cognitive triad”.

For example, in various studies, depressed subjects have recalled unpleasant experiences more than positive ones (Lloyd and Lishman, 1975)

Similarly, research seems to support that performance in laboratory tasks are rated lower in depressed subjects than nondepressed subjects.

Errors in Logic Research(Hammen & Krantz 1976)

A sample of female subjects (some suffering from depression, some not) were asked to read and interpret paragraphs about women in difficult situations.

Ultimately, those diagnosed as depressed made more errors in logic (arbitrary inference or magnification) in their interpretations than the nondepressed women did.

Automatic Thoughts Research

In several studies, nondepressed subjects who are manipulated into reading negative automatic thoughtlike statements about themselves become increasingly depressed. (Bates et al., 1999)

Likewise, research seems to show that those who ruminate on their depressed moods suffer from longer “episodes” of depression. (Nolen-Hoeksama, 1998)

Tomorrow we will discuss the concept of learned helplessness