In order to aid in the understanding of the personality components that contribute to the symptoms of depression, the learning process of persons labeled as depressed was examined. Twenty female subjects who were either receiving or being evaluated for psychotherapy participated in this study. Based on MMPI and DACL scores, 10 depressed and 10 nondepressed subjects were placed in avoidance learning situations. An active avoidance situation required making the correct button press to avoid a sounding buzzer; the absence of the button-pressing response constituted a passive avoidance situation, There was no significant difference between the two groups in learning across avoidance conditions, Depressives were found 'to be less persistent in responding than were nondepressives. Results were explained as supporting a learned helplessness model of depression.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc504124 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Weeks, Randall E. |
| Contributors | Hughes, Anita E., Doster, Joseph A., 1943-, Holloway, Harold D. |
| Publisher | North Texas State University |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | v, 26 leaves: ill., Text |
| Rights | Public, Weeks, Randall E., Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. |
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