Lewinsohn (1972) - Behavioural explanations of depression

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

To compare the amount of positive reinforcement received by depressed and non-depressed participants.

Question 2

Method

Answer 2

Quasi/longitudinal (30 days) study.

Question 3

Participants

Answer 3

30 PS, diagnosed with depression (10), a disorder other than depression (10), and a ‘normal’ control group used (10).

Question 4

Procedure

Answer 4

PS asked to check their mood daily using the depression adjective checklist (e.g. happy, active etc).

Asked to complete the pleasant activities scale rating 320 activities (e.g. sports). These were rated twice on the scale of 3 (once for pleasantness, once for frequency), as positive reinforcement.

Question 5

Results

Answer 5

Significant positive correlation between higher mood ratings and more pleasant activities.

Individual differences from 0 to -0.66, which shows that there is more to depression than reinforcement from pleasant activities.

Question 6

Conclusion

Answer 6

There appears to be a link between reinforcement from pleasant activities and mood, but further research is needed to identify the individual characteristics that make some people more influenced by pleasant activities than others.