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Comparison of Hospitalized Depressed Patients and Matched Normal Controls on Tests that Differ in their Level of Cognitive Complexity

Some research results have suggested that depressed patients perform better on effortless tasks than they do on tasks that require sustained effort. Some of those investigations employed questionable measures or poor control groups. In this investigation, the cognitive performance of 56 hospitalized adolescent and adult inpatients diagnosed with clinical depression was compared to the performance of a matched control group of normal individuals. The samples were compared on reliable and valid tasks that differ in their level of cognitive complexity, using Luria's theory as a basis of categorization. Luria's Block 1 functions of attention-orientation, assessed by a test of Mental Status, represented a level of low cognitive complexity. Luria's Block 2 functions of successive and simultaneous processes, assessed by tests of Number Recall and Gestalt Closure, represented a level of medium cognitive complexity. Luria's Block 3 functions of high-level planning ability, assessed by a test called Four-Letter Words, represented a level of high cognitive complexity. The normal and depressed samples did not differ significantly on any of the tasks, which suggests that they perform as well on effortful tasks as on effortless tasks.