Abstract
[Truncated] Depression has been associated with a wide range of cognitive impairments. However, recent theoretical accounts have hypothesised that depression is a special purpose cognitive state that serves an adaptive purpose by facilitating disengagement from obsolete plans. In this thesis a series of experiments are reported which have provided a test for this hypothesis. In a first series of experiments which employed a task which required subjects to manipulate a complex system, subjects with elevated levels of depression showed superior performance in a task which required disengagement from initial learning to adapt to a change in task parameters. Furthermore it was found that this observed facilitation effect was directly mediated by a depressed mood, rather than by stable personality variables associated with a vulnerability to depression.
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Awarding Institution |
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| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Unpublished - 1995 |
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