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Flashcards

Addiction

Robyn Brayley Psychology A Level English 94 cards

Cards in this deck (94)

  1. 1Define addictionA repetitive habit pattern that increases the risk of disease and/or associated personal and social problems. Addictive behaviours are often experiences subjectively as 'loss of control' - the behaviour continues to occur despite volitional attempts to abstain or moderate use.
  2. 2List the components of addictive behaviourSalience
    Mood modification
    Tolerance
    Withdrawal Symptoms
    Conflict
    Relapse
  3. 3What is salience?The importance of the behaviour to the individual; addictive behaviours tend to become the most important activity for an addict.
  4. 4What is mood modification?The experience people report when engaging in their addictive behaviour e.g a rush, buzz or high
  5. 5What is tolerance?The amount of activity that is required to achieve the same effect. Tolerance will often increase, the more the individual engages in the addictive behaviour.
  6. 6What are withdrawal symptoms?The unpleasant feelings and physical effects that occur when the addictive behaviour is suddenly discontinued or reduced. This can include 'the shakes', moodiness and irritability.
  7. 7What is conflict?Developing conflicts with family or friends as a result of addictive behaviour, as well as experiencing inner conflicts i.e the desire to stop, but inability to.
  8. 8What is relapse?The tendency for repeated reversions to earlier patterns of the addictive behaviour, even after many years of abstinence or control.
  9. 9What are the models of addictive behaviour?- Biological, cognitive and learning approaches to explaining initiation, maintenance and relapse and their applications to smoking and gambling.
  10. 10What comes under vulnerability to addiction?Risk factors in the development of addiction, including stress, peers, age and personality.
    Media influences on addictive behaviour.
  11. 11What comes under reducing addictive behaviour?- Theory of planned behaviour as a model for addiction prevention
    - Types of intervention and their effectiveness, including biological, psychological and public health interventions.
  12. 12What are the two biological explanations of addiction?Mesolimbic pathway (neurochemical)
    Genetics
  13. 13What happens normally in the mesolimbic pathway?- Neurons in VTA are stimulated by learning situations (in response to food, sex, water)
    - They release dopamine, stimulating neurons in the nucleus accumbens producing please, so the adaptive behaviour is repeated.
  14. 14What happens in the mesolimbic pathway of addicted individuals?Neurones in the VTA are stimulated 'artificially' by drugs.
    They release dopamine, stimulating neurons in the nucleus accumbens producing feelings of pleasure, so the addictive behaviour is repeated.
  15. 15What did Olds and Milner find?The mesolimbic pathway is linked to pleasure when testing on mice; mice were more likely to press a lever when it stimulated their nucleus accumbens.
  16. 16What did Phillips find?Found that pleasure in the mesolimbic pathway links the VTA, Nacc and dopamine.
  17. 17What is an agonist?Same action as a neurotransmitter e.g by stimulating receptors or blocking reuptake.
  18. 18What are antagonists?Stop the action of a neurotransmitter e.g by blocking the receptor sites e.g beta blockers.
  19. 19What is incentive sensitisation theory?Repeated exposure to drugs can increase sensitivity of the brain to their desirability.
  20. 20How does the mesolimbic pathway explain maintenance of addictive behaviours?Exposure to a drug makes the pathways less sensitive (down regulation) so more of the drug is needed to produce the same effect (tolerance)
    The drug needs to be taken to avoid the unpleasant effects of the pleasure pathways being less active (to avoid withdrawal symptoms)
    Can be explained by concept of negative reinforcement.
  21. 21How does the mesolimbic pathway explain addictive behaviour?The pathway registers the positive effects of the substance/behaviour, so the addictive behaviour creates a permanent link to pleasure.
    Robinson and Berridge suggest this maintains craving even in the absence of the drug (incentive sensitisation theory)
    Even when withdrawal has been overcome, cues e. cigarette packets, ashtrays in the individuals environment may trigger cravings and because the frontal cortex is less effective at decision making and judging consequences they are less able to resist.
  22. 22What did Bostwick and Bucci find?Involved in treatment of young man addicted to sex,
    treated with naltrexone which blocks the release of dopamine, the addictive behaviour stopped altogether.
    The drug had blocked the reward which no longer made the behaviour pleasurable.
  23. 23What did Caine et al find?Engineered mice to lack brain receptor D2 for dopamine, it was found that these mice were less likely to self-minister cocaine than normal mice.
    Highlights the importance of dopamine in addiction.
  24. 24What did Volkow find?When given Ritalin which elevates levels of dopamine in the brain, some felt positive effects whereas others felt negative effects.
    Brain scans highlighted differences amongst ppts in terms of the number of dopamine D2 receptors; those that felt a rush from the Ritalin had fewer dopamine receptors.
  25. 25What did Grant et al find?Highlighted the interaction between nature and nurture, how nurture can affect nature as it was found that monkeys who had lost social status, also lost D2 receptors.
  26. 26What are the IDA points with the mesolimbic explanation?- Reductionist
    - Biological determinism - overlooks free will and nurture.
    - Use of non-human animals, cant apply to humans.
  27. 27How do genetics explain initiation of addiction?Research suggests that addicts have inherited a specific gene that codes for addictive behaviour and increases their vulnerability to addictive behaviour.
    - The A1 variant of the DRD2 gene (for the D2 dopamine receptor) has been implicated in a number of addictive behaviours.
    Zuckerman found their may be a genetic predisposition to lead to experimentation with addictive behaviours, linked drug use to sensaion0seeking an inherited trait.
  28. 28How can genetics explain the maintenance of addiction?A genetic predisposition might affect the tendency to become dependent
    - Those with the A1 variant were found to have significantly fewer dopamine receptors in the pleasure centre of the brain (nucleus accumbens) The DRD2 gene has therefore become known as the 'reward gene' Individuals with this gene may not receive enough stimulation from everyday activities such as eating and sex therefore individuals tend to engage in this activity to compensate for the dopamine deficiency and increase levels of the neurotransmitter.
  29. 29What did Noble et al find?The DRD2 gene has been associated with alcoholism, noble found 48% of severe alcoholics carry this gene.
  30. 30What did Comings find?The A1 variant of the DRD2 gene has also been linked to smoking addiction.
    Found that 48.7% of 312 smokers (who smoked at least one pack per day, had unsuccessfully attempted to stop smoking and were free of alcohol and other drug dependence) were found to carry the A1 variant compared to 25.9% of 714 non-smokers (who were also free of drug and alcohol addiction)
  31. 31What do PET scans show?PET scans of response to dopamine in the Nucleus accumbens of controls an dpeople with dependencies.
    People who are obese, smokers, alcoholic or cocaine-dependent have fewer dopamine receptors than controls, therefore making them more susceptible to addictive behaviour.
  32. 32How can genes explain relapse?Genes for dopamine or its receptors might affect craving
    - Grant et al showed cocaine users and non-users, cocaine relevant/irrelevant stimuli. Brain scans showed more activity in the brains of users when they reported craving.
  33. 33What did Hans find and therefore what provides a more comprehensive explanation of addiction?- Environmental factors were more important than genetic ones in alcohol abuse.
    The diathesis-stress model may offer a better explanation as it takes into account both genetic and environmental factors.
    It proposes that certain individuals may have a genetic predisposition i.e A1 variant of DRD2 gene but an environmental trigger is needed for the gene to be expressed.
  34. 34What has some evidence found about the relationship between alcoholism and the DRD2 gene?Failed to find any relationship between alcoholism and the DRD2 gene, there is also a lack of evidence in relation to other addictive behaviours e.g video gaming, gambling.
  35. 35What is said about the DRD2 gene?It might not be an indicator of addiction after all, comings found the DRD2 gene was associated with syndromes such as autism and tourettes which are not associated with pleasure seeking. The A1 variant was found to be present in 45% of Tourette's patients sampled compared to 25% of controls.
  36. 36What did Caine et al find?Genetically engineered mice without the gene for D1 (dopamine) receptors don't become addicted to cocaine.
  37. 37How does operant conditioning explain the initiation of addiction?Operant conditioning assumes that behaviour is learnt through consequence i.e rewards, punishments.
    If addictive behaviour is rewarded (physiologically, psychologically or socially) then it is more likely to be repeated again in the future. Rewards positively reinforce addictive behaviours.
    All positive reinforcers have the same physiological effect (increased dopamine in the mesolimbic system)
    This effect can be produced by addictive drugs e.g nicotine as well as addictive behaviours e.g gambling.
  38. 38How would operant conditioning explain explain initiation and maintenance in gambling?May be addictive because of:
    Physiological rewards - e.g adrenaline rush, increased dopamine in nucleus accumbens - pleasure
    Psychological rewards - near misses
    Social Rewards - Popularity amongst peers
    Financial Rewards
  39. 39How would operant conditioning explain initiation and maintenance of smoking?Smoking may be addictive because of:
    - Physiological rewards e.g nicotine stimulates levels of dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway - pleasure.
    - Psychological rewards - stress relief
    - Social rewards - popularity amongst peer group.
  40. 40How would operant conditioning explain maintenance and relapse?Negative reinforcement - Addicts continue to take the drug (maintenance) as they seek to reduce or avoid the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.
    Intermittent Reinforcement - Occasional rewards are enough to maintain the addictive behaviour e.g gambling - occasional wins, according to Skinner this is the most powerful schedule of reinforcement.
  41. 41What did West say which could be a strength to operant conditioning?Operant conditioning explains why it may not be possible to control the development and maintenance of addictive behaviour through conscious choice and awareness.
    West says this could be why addicts frequently experience a conflict between a conscious desire to restrain themselves from addiction and the motivational forces acquired through learning e.g expectation of a reward, that impel them to continue.
  42. 42What does operant conditioning fail to explain?Robinson and Berridge argue that out of the many people who try drugs many do not develop an addiction, overlooks genes which may predispose someone to addiction therefore the diathesis-stress model may provide a better explanation.
  43. 43How does classical conditioning explain maintenance and relapse?Stimuli that occur before or at the same time as a learned stimulus may become secondary reinforcers/conditioned cues as they are heavily associated with the learned stimulus.
    For example, the sight of a pub may encourage an alcoholic to drink.
    Any environmental stimuli that has become associated with the addictive behaviour itself may trigger a conditioned response, in that the body anticipates the effects of the drug e.g pleasure. If they do not engage in the addictive behaviour, then they will start to experience withdrawal symptoms, leading to maintenance or relapse.
    - If after the body sees an ash tray and n cigarette is smoked the body is put into a state of disequilibrium, which the individual experiences as withdrawal symptoms, motivating them to smoke again to alleviate the symptoms.
  44. 44What did Glautier find?Research supports this as it was shown that alcohol-related stimuli elicit the same responses as the alcohol itself.
  45. 45What did Drummond find?- Proposed 'cue exposure' treatment that involves presenting certain cues without the opportunity to engage in the drug-taking behaviour has been developed to treat addictive behaviour.
    - This leads to 'stimulus discrimination' without the reinforcement provided by taking the actual drug, the association between the cue and the drug taking is extinguished, thus reducing the cravings for the drug that arise when exposed to that particular cue.
  46. 46What did Robins find?Supports prediction made by classical conditioning, that stimuli that precede or occur at the same time as the addictive behaviour tend to elicit many of the same physiological responses as the activity itself and maintain the behaviour.
    - Was found that 87% of Vietnam war veterans who became addicted to heroin whilst in Vietnam did not relapse when they returned home.
    - IT was thought that this was because they returned to a different environment, compared to others who returned to the same environment in which they originally developed the addiction.
  47. 47How does social learning theory explain initiation of addictive behaviours ?- Learning of addictive behaviour occurs through observation and communication, particularly with role models.
    - Addiction to drugs begins through operant conditioning (learning about the rewards/consequences)
    - Rewards can be experienced directly or vicariously through the observation of others and can lead to repetition of behaviour.
    - Drug taking is seen to have positive effects experiences directly or observed in others then this may lead to an increased likelihood of imitation and repetition of the behaviour in the future.
    - As a result, 'outcome expectancies' ( an understanding of potential rewards/negative consequences) are formed and therefore affect future behaviour i.e if the rewards outweigh the costs then behaviour will continue to be displayed.
  48. 48What is approach-avoidance conflict?Motivation fluctuates between wanting to use the drug and wanting to stop and therefore makes relapse more likely.
    Classical conditioning is also implicated in social learning as addicts associate certain stimuli with the behaviour these acts as 'cues' and may trigger relapse. The presence of multiple cues increases the risk of relapse as they arouse 'positive outcome expectations'
  49. 49What is self efficacy?This is a person's belief in his or her ability to succeed in a particular situation.
  50. 50What did Lawrence find?Found amongst adults that those who smoked more frequently had less confidence in their ability to abstain, i.e decreased self-efficacy and among adolescents they found that low self-efficacy predicted the onset of smoking and progression from experimental to regular use.
  51. 51What did DiBlasio and Benda find a?Found evidence of influence of peers - those who smoked tended to have friends who smoked, perhaps due to conforming to the norms of their reference group and imitating the behaviour of admired peers, thus demonstrating the influence of vicarious reinforcement.
  52. 52Give a limitation of the social learning theory?Individuals may observe a role model being rewarded for certain addictive behaviours, however fail to imitate the behaviour later on. There are also situations where there may be no role model present.
  53. 53What are the key assumptions fthe cognitive approach?- How we process information and explains abnormal behaviour in terms of faulty thinking and cognitive biases.
    Cognitive explanations assume that all individuals are equally susceptible to developing addictions, unlike certain biological models.
    Cognitive explanations are thought to offer a better account of behavioural addictions such as gambling.
  54. 54How does the cognitive approach explain initiation of addiction?Self Medication: Individuals engage in addictive behaviours e.g gambling/smoking because they think it will relieve psychological symptoms such as stress, anxiety or depression.
    Expectancy theory: Expectation of greater benefits than costs of engaging in addictive behaviour e.g weight loss, stress reduction, improve mood etc.
  55. 55What are the cognitive biases that explain maintenance of addiction?- Gambler's fallacy - Assuming previous events will influence future events e.g coin toss - three heads in a row will be balanced out by an opposite outcome.
    - Illusions of control - Individual believes that they can directly manipulate the outcome of the event through superstitious behaviour e.g kissing the dice before rolling it.
    - Just World hypothesis - Gamblers believe they deserve to win after having lost on so many previous occasions.
  56. 56What did Griffiths do and find?Compared 30 regular and non-regular gamblers in terms of their verbalisations (what they said they were thinking) when playing on a fruit machine.
    He concluded that gambling may be maintained through irrational beliefs e.g gamblers thought they were more skilful than they were (exaggerated self-confidence) and that they could manipulate the fruit machine (illusions of control) This is due to the faulty attribution gamblers make.
    - Regular gamblers also viewed losses as 'near wins' to justify their continuation.
  57. 57What did Langer find to support Griffiths?People tend to overestimate the degree of skill or control that can be exerted in chance activities.
  58. 58What did Delfabbro find to chanllenge the cognitive approach?Found pathological gamblers were more irrational in some forms of gambling-related cognition, but were just as accurate as non-gamblers in estimating the odds of winning. This suggests that gamblers are no more prone to irrational beliefs than non-gamblers, thus casting doubt on the validity of this explanation.
  59. 59What did Benhsain and Ladouceur find to challenge the cognitive approach to addictive behaviour?- Sampled university students, one group trained in statistics and the other in a non-statistical field. All students completed a gambling-related cognition scale.
    - There was no difference found between the two groups in their susceptibility to irrational gambling-related cognitions, despite one group having a better understanding of the probability of winning/losing. This suggests that knowledge does not reduce susceptibility to cognitive distortions.
  60. 60How does the self-medication model explain maintenance of addiction?Individuals continue to engage in addictive behaviours because they think it is relieving psychological symptoms such as stress, anxiety or depression.
  61. 61How does the expectancy theory explain maintenance of addictive behaviour?- Individuals think that the benefits of continuing to smoke/gamble outweigh the costs
    - Loss of control over behaviour can be explained by unconscious expectancies involving automatic processing influencing individuals behaviour.
  62. 62How does the cognitive approach explain relapse?Cognitive bias/distortions in gamblers:
    'Recall Bias' remembering and overestimating wins, while forgetting about underestimating or rationalising wins.
    Expectancy theory - those who perceive smoking/gambling to have more benefits than quitting are likely to relapse.
  63. 63What is a criticism of the self-medication model?Becona - major depressive disorder has been found to be present in the majority of pathological gamblers.
    Difficult to establish cause and effect, whether the gambling caused the depression or the depression caused the gambling.
    Self-medication model cannot explain the many cases of addiction where there are no major psychological problems to overcome
    - Smokers actually report higher levels of stress than non-smokers and their levels of stress only decrease when they stop smoking. Parrott suggests that smoking only provides temporary/acute stress relief by reducing withdrawal symptoms.
  64. 64List a positive of the self medication theory?The model suggests it might be more beneficial to treat the underlying mood problem or mental ailment before tackling the addictive behaviour.
  65. 65What is a general criticism of cognitive explanations?Overlook the role of other factors in addictive behaviour.
  66. 66What are the criticisms of the expectancy theory?- Most research is not concerned with addictive behaviour but excessive behaviour.
    - Its not clear what role expectancies play in the development of loss of control
  67. 67List the risk factors in the developmentStress
    Peers
    Age
    Individual Difference
    Personality
  68. 68How does stress increase the likelihood of you developing an addiction?Those experiencing high levels of stress on a day-to-day basis (daily hassles e.g relationship problems, workplace stress) may be more likely to start and continue with their addictive behaviours as a way of trying to relieve stress.
  69. 69What studies should be referred to when asking if smokers are any less stressed than non-smokers.Cohen and Lichtenstenstein and Parrott and the paradoxical nature of smoking.
  70. 70What did Driessen find?Traumatic stress e.g parental loss, child abuse, may increase the likelihood of addictive behaviour; link with PTSD.
    Found 30% of drug addicts and 15% of alcoholics were found to suffer from PTSD.
  71. 71Why may peers increase someone's risk of addiction?Smokers may befriend other smokers; smoking may increase an individuals popularity within their peer group.
  72. 72What two theories can explain peers influence in addiction?Social Learning Theory
    Social Identity Theory
  73. 73How can social learning theory explain peers influence in the risk of development of addiction?Observation and modelling of peers' behaviour.
    Exposure to peers modelling increases the risk of teenagers smoking (Duncan et al)
  74. 74How can Social Identity Theory explain peers influence in the risk of development of addiction.Group members adopt norms and behaviours essential to the social identity of group, which might include smoking; they display behaviours of in-group members to increase likelihood of acceptance.
  75. 75How can heroin addiction be explained in terms of peers?- Belonging to a social group
    - Shared marginality from society.
  76. 76How can age be a risk factor in the development of addiction?- More susceptible to the effects of peer pressure in our adolescent years.
    - Whereas, close friends and romantic partners have a greater impact on our attitudes and behaviours as we get older.
  77. 77What individual differences increase the risk of someone developing an addiction?Self Esteem
    Personality
  78. 78What did Baumeister find?Low self-esteem may cause people to behave in ways that are self-defeating in order to escape self awareness. E.g mobile phones may act as a form of escape from unpleasant situations.
  79. 79What did Eysenck theory of personality propose?Three dimensions
    - Extraversion vs Introversion
    Neuroticism
    Psychoticism.
  80. 80What did Francis find?A link between addiction and neuroticism.
    (Highly anxious) and psychoticism (related to hostility and impulsivity)
  81. 81What did Zuckerman suggest?High sensation-seekers would be more likely to develop addictive behaviours.
    Extraverts are more likely to be sensation-seekers to stimulate cortical arousal.
  82. 82What did Cloniger propose in terms of personality?Tri-dimensional theory of addictive behaviour.
    Substance dependence has been linked with:
    - Novelty seeking: seeking new experiences.
    - Harm Avoidance: worrying and pessimistic attitude
    - Reward Dependence - rewards quickly shape behaviour.
  83. 83Why is it difficult to establish a c casual relationship between certain personality traits and addictive behaviours?Because everyone is different. You cant determine one type of personality definitely causes addictive behaviour.
  84. 84Research found that what type of rats were more likely to self-administer large doses of cocaine, although it was those high in impulsiveness who were more likely to become addictive.Sensation seeking
  85. 85What did Buckholtz propose?Perhaps those high in impulsiveness and sensation-seeking have a more hypersensitive dopamine response system
  86. 86How does social learning theory in the media put someone at risk of addiction?Actors/actresses or the characters they play may become role models. Individuals are more likely to identify with those in the media who they see as being similar to them e.g same gender, similar age, similar interests.
    If they pay attention and observe their role model being rewarded (e.g popular, attractive, successful) for the addictive behaviour (i.e positive consequences) then this will increase their motivation to imitate the behaviour due to vicarious reinforcement. They therefore create positive outcome expectancies.
  87. 87What did Sulkunen do and what did he find?Reviewed 140 scenes from 34 films.
    - Films specifically related to drug use e.g transpotting explicitly presented characters enjoying the effects of drug taking, in contrast to the monotony of everyday life and as a way of escaping from life's problems.
    Example - Human Traffic shows the main characters taking ecstasy as a way of trying to deal with a problematic relationship.
  88. 88What did Gunasekera do and find?Reviewed 87 popular films from the last 20 years and identified the % of films that portrayed certain potentially addictive behaviours.
    8% Cannabis usage
    7% non-injected illicit drugs
    32% alcohol intoxication
    68% tobacco use.
    - Drugs were often portrayed positively with little consideration of the negative effects.
    - 1/4 films were free from negative health behaviours.
  89. 89What did Hazan et al find?That since 1960 the top grossing films have shown their characters light up cigarettes at three times the rate of American adults.
  90. 90What did Sargent suggest?'Movie exposure effect' - Exposure to smoking in movies predicted the risk of becoming an established smoker.
  91. 91What did Distefan state?The likeability of film actors and actresses who smoke (both on and off screen) Relates to their adolescent fans' decisions to smoke.
  92. 92What did Sargent and Hanewinkel find?That exposure to movie smoking was a significant and strong predictor of initiation into smoking in adolescents aged 11-15.
  93. 93What did Dalton find?The more adolescents are exposed to movies with smoking the more likely they are to start smoking.
  94. 94What did Boyd find?Refutes argument that films fail to show the negative

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A Level Psychology (Addiction) Flashcards on Addiction, created by Robyn Brayley on 10/05/2016.
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