Psychology and Psychotherapy Articles

Abstract

Neurotransmission anomalies and reinforcement depletion are discussed as interchangeable antecedent mechanisms in depression. A possible augmentation to Cognitive-Behavior Therapy is presented in the form of an experience-extenuating life style resulting from a process of continued learning and self actualization

Neurotransmission anomalies and reinforcement depletion are discussed as interchangeable antecedent mechanisms in depression. A possible augmentation to Cognitive-Behavior Therapy is presented in the form of an experience-extenuating life style resulting from a process of continued learning and self actualization

Martin Seligman was among the first to discuss learned helplessness, which he believed was a crucial factor in the onset of depression (1965). He proposed that a historical disconnect between overt or covert behavior and reinforcement could lead to an enduring proneness to response suppression and his thesis was supported by subsequent research (Roth, 1980) He considered response suppression to be the operant correlate of depression and came to believe that a kind of psycho-inoculation against depression could be provided by affording young children clear and voluminous correlations between behavior and reinforcement at crucial phases of development (Seligman 1990).