Abstract

Many researches examined the role of cognition in depression. These researches tested the Beck`s cognitive model of depression or the learned helplessness model of depression. Three broad areas of cognitive functioning in depression are examined : Judgment of contingency or performance expectations, attributional processes, and information processing. In this paper, researches examining the information processing in depression are reviewed mainly. The available empirical evidences are suggestive of negative cognitive tendencies in severely depressed individuals. The hypothesis that negative cognition is the cause of depression is not consistently supported. The empirical literature suggests that the depressive recycling processes between negative cognition and depression are likely to contribute to the maintenance of depressive reaction. Additionally, some issues to be considered for future research are discussed.