Addiction
UNIT 4: PSYA4
lcb@beauchamp.org.uk
Content
The Psychology of Addictive Behaviour
Models of
Addictive
Behaviour

Biological, cognitive and learning approaches to
explaining initiation, maintenance and relapse, and
their applications to smoking and gambling.
Vulnerability to
Addiction

Risk factors in the development of addiction, including
stress, peers, age and personality.
Media influences on addictive behaviour.

Reducing
Addictive
Behaviour


The theory of planned behaviour as a model for
addiction prevention.
Types of intervention and their effectiveness, including
biological, psychological and public health interventions.
Starter
Answer the 5 questions in your booklet
to review your psychological knowledge
of the behaviourist (i.e. learning) model
from AS-Level.
You have 5 minutes!
Basic principles of the learning
approach
 Addictive behaviours are acquired habits which are
learned according to the principles of CC, OC and
SLT.
 Addictions can be unlearned.
 Addictions are not ‘all or nothing’ categories i.e.
there are degrees of addictive behaviour.
 Addictions are no different to any other behaviour.
Pair activity
Using your psychological knowledge from AS, discuss
and make notes in the table in your booklet on…
Classical conditioning
2. Operant conditioning
3. Social learning theory (SLT)
1.
Where possible, think how it may link to addictive
behaviours.
Classical conditioning
 Learning through association.
 Linking two things together.
 Conditioning means learned.
Stimulus
An event which causes a
response e.g. food
Response
A reaction made because the
stimulus has been detected e.g.
salivation.
Pavlov
UCS
UCR
NS
CS
CR
Operant conditioning
 Learning through reinforcement.
 Dependent on consequences of actions.
Positive reinforcement - pleasant consequence =
behaviour repeated.
2. Negative reinforcement – removal of unpleasant
consequence = behaviour repeated.
3. Punishment – unpleasant consequence = behaviour
not repeated.
1.
Social Learning Theory
1.
Observation of role models in the environment.
2. Witness reinforcement.
3. Imitate observed behaviour with anticipation of
receiving similar reinforcement/reward (vicarious
learning).
Independent task
1. Complete the table in your booklet
(comparing and contrasting biological and
learning models of addiction).
2. Colour-code if the term belongs to the
biological approach or the learning approach
of addictive behaviour.
You have 10 minutes.
Be prepared to feedback.
What’s next?
In today’s lesson we are going to look at how the
learning approach explains the initiation,
maintenance and relapse of smoking addiction.
RECAP: What do these terms mean?
1. Initiation?
2. Maintenance?
3. Relapse?
Stages in addiction
1. Initiation – the process whereby an individual
starts to become addicted.
2. Maintenance – the process whereby people
continue to behave addictively even in the face of
negative consequences.
3. Relapse – the process whereby individuals who
have managed to give up their addictive habits (i.e.
they are in remission) start to show signs and
symptoms of the addictive behaviour again.
Smoking
addiction and
the learning
approach
Initiation
Independent task
Read the information in your booklet on the
initiation of smoking addiction according to
the learning model and answer the associated
questions.
You have 10 minutes! – Q&A
Maintenance
Step 1
UCR = unconditioned response
Feel relaxed
UCS = unconditioned stimulus
Sitting with friends
Step 2
NS = neutral stimulus
Smoking cigarette
+
Step 3
CS = conditioned stimulus
Smoking cigarette
UCS = unconditioned
stimulus
Sitting with friends
UCR =
unconditioned
response
Feel relaxed
CR = conditioned response
Feel relaxed
The individual learned that smoking can provide the same rewards (i.e. feeling
relaxed) as the original UCS (i.e. sitting with friends).
Relapse
Tasks
1) Read the information on the maintenance
and relapse of smoking addiction.
2) Summarise this information in your
booklet.
You have 5 minutes!
EVIDENCE – FOR OR AGAINST?
 Complete the gap fill in your booklet and
read the information on Cue-Reactivity
Theory.
 You have 5 minutes – Q&A!
EVIDENCE – FOR OR AGAINST?
1. Read the three studies in your booklet.
2. Write conclusions for these studies using
the sentence starters to help you.
Read the evaluation paragraph and
summarise the two main points in the box
provided.
Exam focus
Outline and evaluate the learning approach to
explaining the maintenance of smoking behaviour.
(4 marks + 6 marks)
Prepare an essay plan for the potential exam
question above.
Evaluation: IDA
Gender bias in smoking addiction research
 The onset and development of smoking follows
different patterns in men and women. E.g. research
found that women start smoking later than men.
Real-world applications
 Effective forms of smoking prevention programmes
should target adolescents (those most vulnerable to
influence of peers) to inform them of the social
influences.
Evaluation: IDA
Nature vs. nurture
 Learning model supports nurture (i.e. role of the environment)
but ignores nature (i.e. biological model - genes).
Determinism vs. free will
 Deterministic as it suggests smoking addiction influenced by
external factors (environment/learning/social pressure/peers
and parents) – however could be argued that they have free
will over smoking behaviour as choose who to look to as role
model – SLT.
To evaluate learning explanations compare to other approaches
e.g. biological!!!
The Learning
Approach to
Gambling
Addiction
Pair task
 Read the information in the table – the learning
explanation for the initiation, maintenance and
relapse of gambling addiction.
 Answer the 8 questions in your booklet.
 You have 10 minutes.
 Q&A!
Independent task
 Read the 3 studies in your booklet and
complete the sentence explaining why it
supports/contradicts the learning
explanation of gambling addiction.
 10 minutes!
Criticisms
 Can’t explain all forms of gambling – difficult to
apply OC principles.
 E.g. some forms of gambling, short time period
between behaviour and consequence (e.g. scratch
card), whereas others (e.g. football bet) there is a
longer time period between behaviour and outcome.
Criticisms
 Fails to explain why only some people become
addicted to gambling.
 Most people will gamble at some point during their
life (e.g. lottery/bingo) and will experience the
reinforcement associated with the behaviour.
However relatively few become addicts. This
suggests that there must be other factors involves in
the transition from gambling behaviour to
gambling addiction e.g. genetics?
Independent tasks
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Complete the gap fill for ‘determinism.’
Read the paragraph and highlight the key terms.
Complete the gap fill for ‘other approaches.’
Fill in the missing sentences for the reductionist
argument.
Write a paragraph for the nature vs. nurture debate
in relation to the learning approach.
15 minutes max!
 BINGO!!! 
Choose 6 words from below and put them in your bingo
board!!!
positive
negative
punishment
classical
vicarious
financial
reinforcement physiological
conditioning
SLT
observation
role model
social
initiation
operant
imitation
association
psychological
maintenance
rewards
withdrawal
relapse
Exam focus
 Complete the essay plan for the 8-mark
past-exam question.
 10 minutes using notes.
Extension activity
Make a mindmap for the learning
explanation of smoking and
gambling addictions.
Next lesson....
Cognitive
Approach