Jr. Tucker List Part 1 1. Aaron Becks view of depression- developed a cognitive theory of depression; identified patterns of thinking that correlated with symptoms of depression. In an effort to better understand depression and related illness, he developed the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Scale for Suicide Ideation. Beck believes that depression is maintained because depressed patients are unaware of the negative automatic thoughts that they habitually formulate. 2. Absolute threshold- The minimum amount of physical energy needed to produce a reliable sensory experience; operationally defined as the stimulus level at which a sensory signal is detected half the time.