Some cognitive dimensions of antidepressive behaviour

This study examines the accuracy with which psychology students predict how they, as a group, will answer questions about how frequently they and the ‘average person’ feel depressed, try to do something about it when feeling depressed, and find that what they do works. Subjects circled responses on 5-point frequency scales to describe their own experience and that which they attributed to the ‘average person’. They also estimated what percentages of their group would circle each point on the scales. Comparison of percentages actually observed with the group's mean predictions showed a striking congruence when represented graphically. The high degree of agreement suggests that these first year undergraduates with no previous instruction in abnormal psychology already have cognitions about depression and antidepressive behaviour of a high order of complexity. The implications of the finding for psychological research on human depression are discussed.