Cognitive approach to explaining

• What model did Ellis come up with ?

  ABC model
• What did Ellis use the ABC model to explain ?

  He used it to explain how irrational thoughts affect our behaviour and emotional state
• What does the ABC stand for ?

  • A - activating event
  • B - beliefs
  • C - consequences
• What does Ellis mean by activating event ?

  Focuses on situations in which irrational thoughts are triggered by external events. According to him we get depressed when we experience negative events and these trigger irrational beliefs
• What does Ellis mean by beliefs ?

  Musturbation - belief that we must always succeed or achieve perfection .

  Utopianism - belief that life is always meant to be fair

  I-can’t-stand-it-itis - belief that it is a major disaster whenever something does not go smoothly
• What does Ellis mean by consequences ?

  When a activating event triggers irrational beliefs there are emotional and behavioural consequences
• What did Beck suggest ?

  He suggested a cognitive approach to explaining why some people are more vulnerable to depression than others
• What does faulty information processing mean ?

  When depressed we attend to the negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives
• What is negative self schemas ?

  A schema is a package of ideas and information developed through experience. A self schemas is the package of information we have about ourselves. If we have a negative self schema we interpret all information about ourselves in a negative way
• What are the three elements of the negative triad ?

  1. Negative view of the future
  2. Negative view of the future
  3. Negative view of the self
• Limitations of Ellis ABC model

  • Ellis’s explanation only applies to some kinds of depression and therefore only a partial explanation for depression - only some cases of depression follow activating events
  • Doesn’t easily explain the anger associated with depression or the fact that some patients suffer hallucinations and delusions
• Strength of Ellis ABC model

  Led to a successful therapy. The idea that by challenging irrational negative beliefs a person can reduce their depression is supported by research evidence and supports the basic theory because it suggests that the irrational beliefs had some role in the depression
• Limitation of Beck’s cognitive theory of depression

  Some depression patients are deeply angry and Beck cannot daily explain this extreme condition and he cannot explain Cotard syndrome which is delusions that they are zombies
• Strengths of Beck’s cognitive theory of depression

  • Forms the basis of a cognitive behaviour therapy and translates well into a successful therapy
  • Has lots of supporting evidence - Grazioli and Terry assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth. Found that those women judged to have been high in cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer post natal depression