Which is a strength of the cognitive approach?

• A. It rejects mental processes
• B. It has led to cognitive-behavioural therapy for depression
• C. It denies the validity of schemas
• D. It avoids laboratory experiments

Answer: (B)

The strength of the cognitive approach is its clear link between understanding thinking and real-world help for people. It has led to cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression, a practical treatment that targets distorted thoughts and beliefs to change emotions and behavior. By teaching people to identify automatic negative thoughts and reframe them, CBT provides structured, evidence-based techniques that have proven effective in many studies. This ability to translate ideas about mental processing into a tangible, successful treatment is what makes this approach particularly strong.

It’s also worth noting that the other statements don’t fit: the cognitive approach does not reject mental processes, nor does it deny the role of schemas, and it relies on laboratory experiments to test ideas rather than avoiding them.