The Law of Cognitive Structure Activation: New Directions in Understanding Depression and Psychotherapy

It is refreshing to find interest and dedication in the formulation of general laws of human behavior at a time when psychological research has become highly specialized. Sedikides and Skowronski's article is timely in bringing to light a potential common ground for understanding research findings in cognitive, social, and clinical psychology. Their interpretations of past research findings in terms of the principle of cognitive structure activation seem well-founded and their speculations regarding its implications are reasonable. Obviously, attempting to establish such breadth in the applicability of the principle necessarily limits the amount of depth with which any one application can be pursued. If psychology is to benefit from the formulation of general principles, however, it is important that these principles do more than simply explain a wide variety of past empirical findings. Such principles should also offer us greater depth in our understanding of a given phenomenon and new paths for investigation. One critical question is whether the law of cognitive structure activation offers a more complete understanding of depression and psychotherapy and new avenues for empirical investigation. Sedikides and Skowronski point to the usefulness of the cognitive-structure-activation hypothesis in explaining the intrusive and uncontrollable nature of depressive thought, as represented in the recent work of Bargh and Tota (1988) and Moretti and Shaw (1989). They also suggest that the principle of cognitive structure activation is central to understanding the efficacy of psychotherapy. I agree with Sedikides and Skowronski's position on the usefulness of the principle of cognitive structure activation for furthering our understanding in this area, although I disagree with some of their statements regarding the implications of this principle for psychotherapy. The following discussion extends their analysis and presents some alternative positions regarding the applicability of the principle for understanding depression and psychotherapy.