Cognitive constructs are explored for clinical psychologists interested in cognitive phenomena in depression. Both traditional and modern memory constructs are outlined and described with attention to their contribution to understanding depression. In particular, the notions of memory construction, self-schemas, and autobiographical memory (per [Conway, M.A. (2001). Sensory–perceptual episodic memory and its context: Autobiographical memory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences, 356, 1375–1384.]) are discussed. Then, the phenomenon of implicit memory is described as a way to bring these constructs together to understand depression. The Rehm and Naus (1990) [Rehm, L.P., and Naus, M.J. (1990). A memory model of emotion. In Ingram, R.E. (Ed.), Contemporary Psychological Approaches to Depression (pp. 23–35). New York: Plenum Press.] memory model of emotion is updated and expanded to include these cognitive constructs, and depression is viewed from the perspective of understanding interactions between explicit and implicit memory processes.
The past two decades have witnessed an increased interest in partnering cognitive psychological theories with models of emotion, especially theories of depression (Bower, 1981, Bower, 1987, Clark & Teasdale, 1985, Rehm & Naus, 1990, Teasdale & Fogarty, 1979 and Teasdale & Russell, 1983). During this same period, some cognitive researchers began to focus their attention on the study of implicit memory, or memory without awareness (e.g., Parkin, 1993, Roediger, 1990 and Schacter, 1987). Consequently, quite a few empirical studies examining the impact of depression on implicit memory were published during this same period. Barry, Naus, and Rehm (2004) recently presented an in-depth review of the mood-congruent memory literature on depression and implicit memory, critically evaluating and organizing these studies within a cognitive framework. In general, however, there has been a delay in including the phenomenon of implicit memory into cognitive theories of emotion. The Barry et al. (2004) review was an attempt to draw attention to emotion and implicit memory, and it also served to set the stage for the current paper.
The purpose of the current paper is to explore the possible implications of the implicit memory literature on depression using the Rehm and Naus (1990) memory model of emotion. This model originally used memory as the center of the cognitive and emotional systems, and it understood depression as a result of cognitive processes, especially through the allocation of attention. The paper is organized as follows: (1) an overview of the memory system is presented, including the cognitive framework of transfer appropriate processing, the concept of implicit memory and the concepts of autobiographical memory and self; (2) three important memory models of emotion (associative network models, the strategic processing model, and schema models) are reviewed in the context of a cognitive framework; (3) a reformulation of the Rehm and Naus (1990) memory model of emotion is presented, including the recent cognitive psychological concepts of implicit memory and the self-memory system (per Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000); and (4) the implications of these issues to memory models of emotion and to understanding the development and maintenance of depression are discussed. In accomplishing these goals, two prominent themes guide this paper and can be found threaded through each section: the theme of structure and process and the role of knowledge base schemas. Each of these cognitive constructs is first defined and discussed in the next section
The revised memory model of emotion presented herein suggests several different treatment approaches to depression. First, identifying negative biases can help to draw attention explicitly to memory processing. In combination with helping depressed individuals learn strategies to help direct their memory, they would gain more control over their memory. Second, redirecting the depressed individual's attention during encoding experiences will help to make subsequent retrieval more likely, especially after the use of a search strategy. Understanding self-schemas and the role they play in memory processing can lead to treatments based on changing self-schemas and actually using them to a memory advantage: having them help identify and change goals present in the working self and self memory system. In addition, other interventions, including behavioral activation and medication, also serve to influence mood, self-schema, and goals. In turn, these influence the kind of priming and memory retrieval that occurs.
Although many important inroads into the understanding of depression and implicit memory have been made, it is clear that there is much more work to be done in terms of a better understanding of both theoretical and clinical implications of this view. Because implicit memory by definition is a nonconscious type of processing, it may present a challenge for clinicians attempting to treat depression. In particular, getting at the unconscious schema held by depressed individuals may prove especially difficult, particularly given their automatic activation. However, the implicit memory field has developed its own tasks and methodology, which may prove useful to interested clinicians. After all, the ultimate test of a model is its utility.
