Behavioural Approach

Behavioural Approach

1. Stimulus is something that elicits a response of any kind.

   • Association is forming a link between a particular stimulus and a particular response.
   • Environment could be drug houses, friend's house, your own home, specific clubs/bars, school, a park, hidden areas, workplace, pubs, casino and alleyways. Experiences could be that you feel good, adrenaline rush, peer pressure, feeling socially accepted, a good high, a bad high, getting fired, parties, positive experience, getting disowned and homelessness. People could be an influencer, store owners, schools, therapist, a celebrity, homeless people, partners, a drug dealer, your family, your friends and your peers.

2. Positive reinforcement is by adding something to the environment to encourage desired behavior. An example is giving a child a candy for tidying up their toys.

   • Negative reinforcement is taking something bad away from the environment to encourage desired behavior. An example of this is when a child cleans their room, their parents tell them they don’t have to do the dishes.
     • Punishment is adding something negative to the environment to discourage certain behaviors. An example of this is being grounded for talking back to your parents.
       • Initiation can be peer pressure from friends to start social media and posting online and this is seen as a negative reinforcement. Vicarious reinforcement is shown in initiation to see other people get reinforced. A positive reinforcement in maintenance could be continued to feel accepted, avoiding reality. A negative reinforcement could be withdrawal symptoms disappearing. In relapse, after an individual has spent a long time without social media they give into that sudden urge and begin their addictive habits again. The dopamine reward pathway could be involved in relapse as your body and mind remembered how the addiction felt. Schedule of reinforcement

3. Fixed ratio is a certain number of responses are rewarded. For example, every third response is rewarded.

   • Fixed interval is a reward is given after a certain amount of time. For example, every 2o seconds a reward is given.
     • Variable ratio is a reward is given after a random number of responses. Variable interval is a reward is given after a random amount of time has passed.
       • Slot machines: Players have no way of knowing how many times they must play before they win. All they know is that eventually, a play will win. Therefore, slot machines are so effective, and players are often reluctant to quit. There is always the possibility that the next coin they put in will be the winning one. People think that a machine is lucky. If you don’t know when your reward is coming, so you keep on playing and continue to respond and engage.

4. The behavioral approach studies observable behavior without reviewing what goes into people's minds. Behaviorist psychologists believe that learning takes place through reinforcement. They see the importance of reward and punishment. Main ideas in the approach are: All behaviour is learnt, behavior is learnt through your environment (external), not your thoughts (internal) and associative learning is the simplest form. This is making an association between two stimuli, or a response and its consequences.