Social Cognition and Depression - Essay Example

SOCIAL COGNITION AND DEPRESSION Cognitive psychology attempts to understand the nature of human intelligence and how people think, perceive and memorize a thing, an article, a personality and a place as well. The study of cognitive psychology is motivated by scientific curiosity, by the desire for practical applications, and by the need to provide a foundation for other fields of social science. (Anderson, 1990 3) Cognitive development is stated as the growth of mental processes as well as ability to think and perceive. It also discusses how a child learns and remembers by his innate mental capabilities and from society. This includes the ability to concentrate, remember things, process information, learn, speak, and understand. (Retrieved in www.cancer.gov) Theorists differ in opinion while elaborating cognitive development among children; some of them declare it a natural process, while others are of the opinion that cognition, like other activities and abilities, is a learned process. Within a given species, Craig and Baucum state, individuals vary somewhat in physical and behavioral characteristics that are related to coping with and adapting to their environment. (2001 59) Social cognition is also an important branch of cognitive psychology that discusses the process of social information especially storage and encoding of such information to apply it at some specific social situation while interacting with other individuals of society. Individuals establish and regulate their social relationships on the basis of their cognitive learning as well as memory storage hidden in their sub-conscious by making comparison between their own self and other individuals called as significant others. Significant others simply mean the individuals very close to man having intimate relationships as well as constant and continuous interaction. The research conducted by Susan Andersen (1999) concludes that humans develop social cognition keeping in their memory the physical and emotional traits and features of the significant ones, which are preserved in their memory schema and help them while communicating with the people other than the significant ones, based on their resemblance with the significant others. Andersen introduced idiographic presentation, which lay stress on the expectation of the same appearance and attitude in the person of significant others, which an individual has developed in his mind and memory. Divergence of some new person from the expected role from the significant one, not complying with the expectations an individuals has preserved in his memory, as well as some different mode of behavior and attitude may create disappointment and depression in man’s mind by disturbing his assessment as well as judgment about the person in interaction with him leading him towards an uncertain mental and cognitive situation. Making a judgment about an exemplar brings relevant categories (e.g., those the exemplar belongs to) to bear on information processing (Castelli, Zogmaister, Smith, & Arcuri, 2004; Macrae et al., 1998, Study 1). For example, making a judgment about one individual before judging another facilitates the latter judgment if both targets belong to the same (versus different) gender or age group, an effect also observed for significantother targets (Karylowski, Konarzewski, & Motes, 2000). (Quoted in Saribay & Andersen, 2007 1715) Hence, mind stores the representation of significant others in the memory, and future behavior is regulated on the basis of that positive (or even negative) perception regarding not only that person, but also some other individual resembling the significant others in even name, appearance, features and personality traits. For example, a child always motivates towards a person containing the name that resembles his parents, grandparents and siblings, and expects his appearance must be same as his significant others maintain, though it is somewhat different from the stored memory regarding the behavior attributed to the significant others. In the same way, race and ethnicity of other persons stored in the “in-group” of the individuals’ memory, drives him behave in some specific manner. Inter-group prejudice and biased ness are also the outcome of mental encoding and cognitive perception of individuals, which have been stored in their memory. Not only this, but also an event, incident or a place where an individual has interacted with others, is also stored in the memory, which he remembers and reminds either by visiting the previous place again, or the re-happening of the same incident, or while interacting with the individuals present there on some particular period of time. Susan declares it as social cognitive model of transference. Here transference stands for the transfer of information from memory storage to social interaction. Mischel (1995) states the divergence in the traits between the significant others and some different person as behavioral variability. Personality psychology does not need to be limited as the study of differences between individuals in their consistent attributes, as it has been traditionally. Personality psychology ultimately must also encompass people’s cognitive and behavioral studies. (Mischel, 1979 8) Cantor (1977) defines cognitive structure containing an individual’s belief system and knowledge, based on his personal, first hand experience on the one hand, and through media and other sources of cultural transformation. It is therefore social perception is stated as effected by social cognitive process of transference. Herbert mead’s Id, ego and self theories also describe almost the same. According to the Looking Glass Self Theory, an individual perceives other individuals by comparing his own self with others, and develops social cognitive behavior for others, which he has either experienced during his first interaction with others, or interacting with absolutely new and unknown persons in some specific situation or place. For instance, an individual learns how to interact with the staff at a hospital, a bank, a restaurant etc without noticing the members of the staff, which he saves in his memory and his memory helps him out in recognizing the persons, situation and area according to which he has to make interaction. Divergence, diversification, distribution and difference in human societies on the basis of caste, class, communities, clans, regions, races, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status—all are the outcome of social cognitive process, which not only has the ability to make distinction between one’ own socio-cultural identity and that of others, but also produces sense of separation, superiority and prejudice in the individuals’ memory. The differences, competition, conflicts and antagonism between various groups are also the by-product of social cognition, which creates feelings, emotions and sentiments of love, hatred, liking, disliking and other sensations in humans. Human emotions and feelings are also dependent of the settled social cognition defined and described by Adil & Andersen in their Social Cognitive Model of Transference. A child learns how his significant others treat him with sheer love and kindness, which he encodes in his mind. On finding these persons again, he expresses his feelings of joy in the same way he had experienced in past. Since an individual perceives the significant others as kind and amiable, he develops biased ness for them in comparison with new and unknown persons. The same perception regarding one’s own group gives a go to the ethnic, religious and racial biased ness for the future years to come. Higgins’s Preliminary Model of Construct Accessibility also indicates towards the same, according to which an individual encodes his role which he has performed in past while interacting with other members of family, peer group, church, educational institution and society at large, deviation from that role disturbs his mind creating frustration and depression among the individuals. PART II Social psychology is interested in studying human emotional behavior, as well as causes, effects and consequences of pleasant and unpleasant feelings and changing moods of the individuals. Almost all of these moods and feelings have direct link with cognitive development and mental condition that stimulate humans to act and react accordingly. Leventhal (1974) suggests that feelings of pleasantness and unpleasantness must be basic perceptual reactions produced when innate perceptual mechanisms sensitive to specific emotion producing features of display are stimulated. (Quoted in Clark & Isen, 1953 2) Researches show that people believe private thoughts and feelings are more revealing and prototype, both of self and of others, than comparable samples of public behavior. (Andersen, 1984) Cognitive model of depression, articulated by Beck & Young (1979) assumes that early negative schemas in patients cause depression in humans. Cognitive model assumes that cognition, behavior and biochemistry are all important components of depressive disorders. (Beck & Young, 1999) Human thoughts are more revealing, according to the researches, than about the self than human behaviors and that thoughts and feelings may also lead to more extreme inferences about the self. (Rosch, 1977) Social interaction between two or more humans is based on social cognitive behavior directed by memory encoding and expected generalized attitude. Absence of expected behavior from others and unavailability of social needs and requirements create feelings of stress and disappointment in individuals leading towards mental despair and depression consequently. While entering into a social behavior, an individual unconsciously looks for expected reaction and positive attitude from environment. He neglects and negates altogether the mishaps, misfortunes and misunderstandings and concentrates on positive, fruitful and productive outcomes. An individual always seeks his significant others not only to make interaction, but also to fulfill his needs on the one hand, and enjoy his leisure hours on the other. On the other hand, a depressed and mentally retarded person views the world as dark, dismal, dull and drab. His memory is filled with the gloomy aspects of events, and he does not find anyone loving, caring and kind to him. Depressed patients constantly distort their interpretations of events so that they maintain negative views of themselves, of their environment and the future. (Beck & Young, 1999) With the growth of social circle, and development of human mind, the canvas of the numbers carrying significant others expands and inter-group feelings do not remain limited to family and peer group only; rather, social contacts go on from family to society at large. Man looks for the persons who may prove effective for the fulfillment of his goals and ambitions. Absence of individuals and situation to support for the accomplishment of one’s desires and longings create frustration in man, leading towards worst king of depression consequently. Thus there appears the need for change in lifestyle and socioeconomic activities. Social and individual change may both be positive or negative. Though, it is fact beyond doubt that there in nothing permanent except change, yet a change usually is the outcome of man’s stress, depression and lack of fulfillment of his dreams and desires. Feelings of fears and anxiety appear as a result of deprivation, and man start thinking of his significant others at the hour of the need. Social cognition also takes a drastic turn as described by Zimbardo in Patty Hearst’s kidnapping case, in which she changed her mind, lifestyle, social orientation and cognition altogether in utter depression during her confinement and sought new recognition in the same social set up as soon as she was released from confinement. Depression may also lead the patient towards seeking relief in false memory. Theorists are of the view that false memory maintains direct link with an individual’s cognitive development, which refers to the growth of mental processes as well as ability to think and perceive. Every individual perceives one single event differently, and attributes divergent cause of the event from the other individuals based on his own perception. These attributes are both external and eternal. Depressed individuals usually perceive their own mistakes the outcome of external attribution, while view the faults of others as the result of internal personality traits. By this, individual display some specific attributes to justify their actions based on the false memory hidden in their mind that they could not make any mistakes either willfully or accidentally. Hence, depression causes high level of stress in human mind, and causes pleasant memories concealed under the thick pile of disappointment and dejection. Various therapeutic treatments and exercises are suggested by researches and theories to escape the consequences of depression. Since memory storage pricks human mind in respect of reminding it negative and uneven events, therapists apply behavioral techniques in the treatment of depression. Sometimes, negative and frightful memories of past haunt man’s mind and cause serious depression in him, though there appears no existence and presence of such events in present and future life. Psychological and behavioral controls and schemas also maintain significant role in this regards. Psychological controls refer to the checking and regulating the psychological causes of an individual’s depression, so that he can be forbidden from thinking negative, harmful and depressing feelings. In the same way, significant others control depression of the individual by turning more amiable, polite and human towards the depressed one. Young’s Schema Questionnaire has been assessed by relevant studies on the same topic. Schmidt et al. (1995) reported that dependency and defectiveness caused depression in students. Child molestation and abuse of mistrust also create depression among people. In the same way, the feelings of getting blamed for an action or incident i.e. self-discrepancies create depression among humans. They scare lest they will be punished, rebuked or maltreated due to the offence or mistake made by them either consciously or unconsciously. Behavioral therapy pulls these feelings out from human memory in order to protect them from uneasy state of confusion and depression. In depression, not only people are deprived of physical fitness and substantial power, but also there are chances of drop out of financial stability too. It is among the ethical obligations and moral duties of the therapist, according to Young (1979 that he must pay due heed to the patient, and never display such a behavior that can create feelings of shame and humiliation in his mind. Further, the therapist must ask the members of the patient’s family to reveal each and every thing regarding the mental situation and habits of the patient so that he could be provided with complete scare and restoration to normalcy. REFERENCES J. R. Anderson. Cognitive Psychology And Its Implications. Third Edition, W.H. Freeman & Company, New York.1990 Allyn, & Bacon, Educational Psychology, Theory and Practice, Volume I, Chapter 2 2006 J. Piaget. The Origin of Intelligence in Children, International University Press, NY. 1952 M. Cantor & W. Mischel. Traits on Prototypes: Effects on Recognition Memory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1977 35-48 Margaret S. Clark & Alice M. Isen. Towards Understanding the Relationship Between Felling States and Social Behavior. 1953 Pam Silverthorn. Jean Piaget’s Theory of Development 1999 S. Adil Saribay and Susan M. Andersen. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin Relational to Collective: Significant-Other Representations, Ethnic Categories, and Inter-group Perceptions. 2007 Susan M. Andersen. Self-Knowledge and Social Inference: The Diagnosticity of Cognitive/Affective and Behavioral Data 1984 Walter Mischel. Personality & Cognition Stanford University 1979 W. Mischel, & Y. Shoda. A Cognitive-Affective System Theory of Personality: Reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure. Psychological Review, 102, 246-268. 1995 http://www.cancer.gov/Templates/db_alpha.aspx?CdrID=346465 Read More