Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences - Theses
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ItemThe hyper-ordinary depression hypothesis, and mechanisms of cognitive rigidity in depression (or zen and art of reducing depressive cycle maintenance)( 2017)This thesis is comprised of two related parts: a theoretical inquiry into the antidepressant mechanisms of a range of Non-ordinary States of Consciousness (NSCs), alongside the development of a novel mechanistic account of depression; and a set of four empirical studies that investigated aspects of cognitive rigidity in depression that relate to this novel account. In Chapter 1, I show that various disparate induction procedures (e.g., mindfulness practice, psychedelics, brain entrainment, and endurance exercise) are associated with both the production of NSCs and the reduction of depressive symptoms. Interestingly, these NSCs have in common many core neurological, psychological, and phenomenological features that are antithetical to core features of depression. I suggest that these features of NSCs represent potential therapeutic mechanisms, and that the production of certain NSCs mediates the reduction in depressive symptoms. I argue that two related superordinate features underlie these changes – enhanced Receptivity (e.g., perceptual, particular, absorbed, suggestible, flexible, open) and enhanced Projectivity (e.g., self-efficacious, intimate, relational, self-transcendent), that together represent elevated Interdependence between the individual and the world. In contrast, I argue that numerous features of depression appear to represent a fundamental deficiency in Interdependent processing, and that this deficiency extends into the most basic level of minimal subjectivity, representing a global qualitative change that satisfies criteria for an altered state of consciousness. Consequently, I argue that depression is associated with a ‘Hyper-ordinary’ state of consciousness. I suggest that the degree to which an NSC can reduce depression is a function of the degree to which Interdependent processing occurs within the state, and endures thereafter. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 report on a set of four empirical studies that investigated cognitive abnormalities in depression associated with the Receptivity aspect of the Hyper-ordinary account of depression. These tasks explored the link between depressive symptoms and three related processes that fall under the rubric of ‘cognitive flexibility’ – the ability for unexpected information to gain access to awareness; the ability to generate divergent representations for that information; and the ability to abandon extant representations in favour of those that are more compatible with unexpected information. As depression is associated with various forms of cognitive rigidity, including biased beliefs and interpretations that resist change, these studies investigated processing abnormalities in depression that might account for such rigidities. Additionally, as cognitive rigidity in depression is typically confined to specific forms of information processing, the tasks all employed stimuli that are highly relevant to the level of construal, the thematic content, and the rhetorical mode of depressotypic thinking, thereby increasing their sensitivity to detect differences, and their ability to reveal potential therapeutic targets. Results showed that depressive symptoms were related to slower access to awareness for unexpected positive information (Chapter 4), deficits in producing diverse categories of response, with no relation to the total number of responses generated (Chapter 3), and deficits in updating interpretations, regardless of whether updating resulted in a more positive or negative interpretation (Chapter 2). Together, this thesis offers a novel account of the depression experience, argues for a set of plausible therapeutic candidates for the antidepressant effects of certain NSCs, and reports on three novel tasks that probe ecologically relevant features of cognitive rigidity in depression, thereby revealing novel therapeutic targets. The picture of depression that emerges from the theoretical account is of a profoundly isolated state characterised by a fundamental deficit in the individual’s susceptibility to be affected by their context, and the perception that one’s context cannot be affected by the individual. The empirical studies show how this deficiency relates to the diminished influence of contextual factors over interpretations and expectations in depression. The hope is that this work can improve and extend the current understanding of depression and its causes, and lead to new methods of recovery.
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ItemIndividual differences associated with insight and insight problem solving( 2018)The current thesis investigates individual differences that are associated with insight. Traditionally, this research question has been tested by measuring the associations between measures of individual difference of interest (e.g., fluid intelligence, creativity, etc.), and the ability to solve “insight problems.” We firstly explore the result of this trend (Chapter 3), investigating the role of convergent thinking, divergent thinking, and schizotypy in insight and non-insight problem solving. Results indicate that convergent thinking (the ability to solve problems) is the strongest and most reliable predictor of insight problem-solving abilities. Two questions are raised by the use of accuracy as an indicator of insight processes: to what extent are aha experiences and accuracy related, and how reliably can insight problems elicit experiences of insight. We investigate the relationship between problem-solving success (accuracy) and insight (Chapter 4), and the reliability of insight problems in eliciting insight (Chapter 5). We found a positive relationship between correctly solved insight problems and ratings of insight phenomenology (e.g., aha experience, pleasure). While the tendency for insight problems to elicit insight was marginally reliable, this reliability was substantially greater when calculating reliability of ratings of aha experience in correctly solved problems only. The importance of accuracy in experiencing insight emphasised an issue that was consistent throughout the thesis: the necessity for problem-solving abilities in order to solve insight problems and thus elicit the feeling of insight. In Chapter 6, we explore the role of divergent thinking, convergent thinking, and schizotypy in the tendency to report the experience of insight in the problem- solving process. We found that including accuracy in the model as a predictor of aha experience shifted the ability of particular individual difference variables (i.e., divergent thinking and positive schizotypy) to predict aha experiences. Finally, we explore some methodological considerations that occurred during the course of the thesis: namely, the effect of feedback on insight experiences (Chapter 7), and the possibility of using tasks that overlap less with convergent thinking abilities to assess the experience of insight (Chapter 8). We found that feedback increased aha experiences when the solution was unknown, and decreased aha experiences when the solution was known. We also found that responses to the alternative uses task were able to elicit aha experiences: as in Chapter 7, we found that generating a use was significantly more likely to result in a reported aha experience than being presented with a use. Exploring individual difference measures, we found that individuals who scored high in positive schizotypy were more likely to report aha experiences, and to rate rare uses as more meaningful (practical). In all, the current thesis explores individual differences associated with the ability to solve insight problems, the tendency to experience insight in problem solving, and some of the methodical considerations required when using insight problems. We found that (1) convergent thinking predicts problem-solving accuracy, (2) accuracy and insight experiences are strongly tied, and (3) when holding accuracy constant, or eliminating it as a necessary part of the paradigm, positive schizotypy predicts tendency to report experiences of insight.