Psychopathology – depression AQA Specification A

Possible questions for 24 marks  Outline and evaluate psychological explanations for depression.  Outline and evaluate one or more psychological explanations for depression.  Outline and evaluate two or more psychological explanations for depression.

Possible split questions  Outline psychological explanations. 8 marks  Evaluate psychological explanations. 16 marks  Outline one or more psychological explanations. 8 marks  Evaluate psychological explanations. 16 marks  Outline two psychological explanations. 8 marks  Evaluate two psychological explanations. 16 marks

Psychodynamic explanations  Unconscious forces  Early experience – oral stage  Dependency  Loss leading to anger  Later loss – mourning turns to melancholia  Anger towards loved ones is unacceptable to the superego so it’s turned inward.

Learned helplessness  Can be treated as a behavioural or cognitive or cognitive-behavioural explanation.  Tendency to stop trying after a few unsuccessful attempts.  Even though escape from an unpleasant situation becomes possible.  Devised from observation of research using dogs.  Follow-up research done by Seligman with humans.

Beck’s cognitive theory  Negative schemata – NATs  Linked with childhood experience  Cognitive distortions (negative bias)  Cognitive triad  Selective abstraction  Minimisation / maximisation  Generalisation

Lewinsohn’s behavioural explanation  Lack of positive reinforcement in social situations.  Avoidance of future similar situations  Causes withdrawal  Social disengagement/withdrawal linked with depression  Social inadequacy increases due to lack of practice in social situations  Social withdrawal is reinforced

Abramson’s misattribution hypothesis  Cognitive-behavioural  Individual attributes failure to themselves  Makes this global – ‘everything I do is rubbish’  Makes it stable ‘it always will be’.  Becomes hopeless

EVALUATION  Research evidence in support of the theory or against it.  Lack of evidence due to methodological issues, difficulties with testability of the theory.  May explain the maintenance of depression rather than the initial cause.  May be the effect rather than the cause.  May not be observed in every case of depression.  May be too simple an explanation on its own.  May be combined with the biological explanation.  May be supported by effective treatments associated with it.  Although not in every case.

Language for evaluation/commentary  However...  Furthermore...  In addition to...  In contrast to...  On the other hand...  It could be argued that...  In support of this...  Further support for....

Use of technical terms  Debates  Determinism  Reductionism  Nature / nurture debate  Psychology as science (methodology)  Issues  Use of animals in research  Gender bias  Culture bias  Ethical issues