Addiction

What this unit covers

The resources follow the A-level style of the topic. Models of addiction come first: the biological, cognitive and learning approaches, usually applied to both smoking and gambling. Around them sit risk factors, media influences, the Theory of Planned Behaviour and types of intervention. Many items split each model into initiation, maintenance and relapse, which is a handy way to organise your answers.

Where to start

Begin with the overview mind map Psychology A-level: Addiction. It branches into the approaches, risk factors, media influences, gambling and interventions, so you can see the whole unit on one screen. The mind map called Addiction, which opens with the question of what addiction is, helps with definitions.

Then move on in this order:

1. Models of Addictive Behaviour - Smoking, to compare the three approaches across initiation, maintenance and relapse.
2. The flashcard deck Gambling, covering the dopamine reward pathway, opioid antagonists such as naltrexone, gambling venues and self-help groups.
3. theory of planned behaviour, which breaks down personal attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control.
4. Types of Intervention and their Effectiveness, which covers biological options such as nicotine replacement through gum and patches.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a mind map first, then test yourself. The quiz substance abusation asks about dopamine, the VTA and the effects of opiates, so it suits the biological material. The quizzes Models of addiction and Griffiths work well after the model maps. Note what you got wrong, then go back to the matching map or the deck Explainations of Substance Abuse, which covers hereditary and personality explanations.

The notes created from mind maps, such as the one on the biological approach to smoking, give you the same content in sentences. They quote twin-study heritability figures, which can help when you write evaluation points.

Where it fits

This unit sits in the Psychopathology and Treatment strand of Psychology. It links the explanations of behaviour with the treatments that follow from them, so it helps to keep each model next to its matching intervention.

When you are ready, pick one approach, work through its map and deck, and then build your own set of flashcards to fill any gaps you spot.