Maria recently failed her driving test.

She says the test was unfair and the examiner was 'out to get her'.
She says she hates herself and will never try anything again. Before the test Maria told her friend that
she had to pass otherwise she could not go on. Maria's friend thinks she might be showing signs of
depression.

Describe and evaluate the cognitive approach to explaining depression. Refer to Maria in your answer.
(16 marks)

Beck (1967) suggested that some people are more prone to depression because of faulty information
processing, i.e. thinking in a flawed way. When depressed people attend to the negative aspects of a
situation and ignore positives, they also tend to blow small problems out of proportion and think in ‘black
and white’ terms. Maria told her friend that if she didn’t pass she ‘could not go on’.

Depressed people have negative self schemas. We use schemas to interpret the world, so if a person has a
negative self-schema they interpret all information about themselves in a negative way. More specifically,
Beck proposed the negative triad. There are three elements to the negative triad: Negative views of the
world – ‘the test was unfair and examiner was out to get her’. Negative view of the future – ‘she will never
try anything again’. Negative view of the self – ‘she hates herself’. The negative triad affects the
depressive’s self-esteem.

A strength is that the theory has practical application as a therapy. Beck's cognitive explanation forms the
basis of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). The components of the negative triad can be easily identified
and challenged in CBT. This means a patient can test whether the elements of the negative triad are true.
This is a strength of the explanation because it translates well into a successful therapy.

A limitation is that Beck's theory does not explain all aspects of depression. Depression is a complex
disorder. Some depressed patients are deeply angry and Beck cannot easily explain this extreme emotion.
Some depressed patients suffer hallucinations and bizarre beliefs. Beck's theory cannot always explain all
cases of depression, and just focuses on one aspect of the disorder.

A further strength of Beck's theory is it has good supporting evidence. For example, Grazioli and Terry
(2000) assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth. They
found that those women judged to have been high in cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer
post-natal depression. This suggests that Beck may be right about cognition causing depression, at least in
some cases.
A further limitation is that Beck's theory does not explain all aspects of depression. Depression is a complex
disorder. Some depressed patients are deeply angry and Beck cannot easily explain this extreme emotion.
Some depressed patients suffer hallucinations and bizarre beliefs. Beck's theory cannot always explain all
cases of depression, and just focuses on one aspect of the disorder.