Comparing Different Cognitive Mechanisms Underlying Depressive Thinking

Yarwood, Takuma (2021) Comparing Different Cognitive Mechanisms Underlying Depressive Thinking. Bachelor's Thesis, Artificial Intelligence.

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Abstract

Some theories state that impairments in the Reward Learning mainly drive depression, whereas alternatives propose that a crucial factor in depression is the rigid, perseverative thinking involved in Rumination. In this study, the performance of participants in two cognitive tasks, intended to target the cognitive functions was correlated with participant depressive thinking scores obtained from three questionnaires (BDI-II, RRS and PTQ). It was suggested that those who scored lower on self-reported Rumination (RRS) picked up on reward asymmetries earlier than those who scored higher, thus providing some comparable aspects to pre-pandemic scientific research in this topic. However, suspected issues that are yet to be rectified in relation to the processing of behavioural data of the depression (BDI-II) and perseverative thinking (PTQ) scores leave little to be concluded about both mechanism's ability to predict all three depression scores. Moreover, limitations such as new concerns impacting mental illnesses as a result of the COVID-19 era hint at the possibility that the results are not reflective of the typical underlying mechanisms believed to instigate and maintain depression in pre-pandemic studies. In sum, it is still unclear to what extent the cognitive mechanisms of Reward Learning and Rumination influence a person's subjection to be depressed, and to what extent they differ between pre-pandemic and peri-pandemic conditions.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Vugt, M.K. van
Degree programme:	Artificial Intelligence
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	23 Aug 2021 10:56
Last Modified:	23 Aug 2021 10:59
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/25767

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