ADDICTION
Biological, Cognitive and Learning models of addiction
Question 1
a) Describe two theories of the initiation, maintenance and relapse of addictive behaviour (9 marks)
b) Evaluate these theories of the initiation, maintenance and relapse of addictive behaviour (16 marks)
Question 2
“Psychologists believe that addictive behaviour can be explained solely by cognitive factors”
Discuss this claim with reference to the above quotation (25 marks)
Question 3
a) Outline one theory of gambling behaviour (5 marks)
b) To what extent can Psychological theories explain gambling addiction? (4 and 16 marks)
Question 4
“Britain has one of the biggest teenage gambling problems in the world. Five recently published studies have suggested that all gamblers have some sort of
biological predisposition which leads to their addictive behaviour”.
a) Explain why people may be more inclined to accept this published research rather than mere opinion. (5 marks)
b) Outline and evaluate one biological model that suggests initiation, maintenance and relapse of addictive behaviour is caused by biology (5 + 5 marks)
c) Discuss one alternative model to explain the initiation, maintenance and relapse of addictive behaviour (4 and 6 marks)
Question 5
“Pathological addictive behaviour is classed as a mental disorder in the DSM-IV. Thousands of people in Britain are addicted to Heroin. Some studies
suggest that biological intervention models are the most effective form of treatment whilst others stress a more multi-intervention approach”.
a) Explain why Psychologists should be cautious about identifying addiction as a mental disorder using the DSM-IV (5 marks)
b) Describe one type of biological intervention that could be used to treat an addiction (5 marks)
c) Evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention with reference to other approaches and to the quotation (4 and 11 marks)
BIOLOGICAL MODELS OF ADDICTION
GENETICS
Initiation:
Agrawal & Lynskey
COMMENTARY AO2
Diathesis Stress Model
Kendler [2003]
Inconsistent research findings
Noble [1998]
Specific Genes and specific drugs
Noble [1991] D2 Dopamine receptor gene A1 variant
DRD2 linked to range of disorders Comings [1991]
Reward Gene
THE DISEASE MODEL: Dopamine and Addiction
Initiation Reward Circuit
COMMENTARY
Individual differences. Volkow [2001] Ritalin and numbers of dopamine receptors .
More dopamine receptors = don’t like the effect of drugs
Maintenance Downregulation
Bostwick and Bucci Sex Addiction
Relapse Frontal cortex less effective at decision making
Ignores social context, role of unconscious, effect of environment
Grant’s monkeys
Treatment not punishment
AO3 LINKS
Animal Research:
Caine Cocaine mice [2007]
Grant’s monkeys
Banks treatment of cocaine addiction
Not correlational
Nature/Nurture Twin Studies
McGue
Agrawal and Lynskey
Kendler
Reductionism:
Genetic = no control?
Chemical = can treat with more chemicals.
Volkow and Ritalin=individual vulnerability based on biology
But Grant and social factors not just biology
COGNITIVE MODELS OF ADDICTION
The Self-medication model
initiation
Gelkopf et al (2002) chosen for a purpose
Maintenance and Relapse
Smokers and stress
Gottdiener meta analysis: [2008] Failure of ego control
Cause and effect: Evidence that people do have a problem which they look to
solve before becoming addicted Sanjuan [2009] sexually abused women
Parrott [1998]: immediate effect vs long term effects
Expectancy Model
Initiation
Expectations about the benefits and costs of the drug
Leigh [1987]Can explain individual differences in susceptibility to addiction;
some people have stronger beliefs about the negative/positive effects of the
drug
Maintenance and relapse
Expectations become habit Brandon [2004]
Expectancy theory does not really explain why some people use more or less
of a substance but not why some people lose control and are addicted.
Manipulate expectations to influence experience of abstinence. Tate [1994]
Rational Choice Theory
Initiation
Economic model: weigh up costs and benefits
Maintenance and Relapse
Will act rationally and stop if costs outweigh benefit.
BUT don’t always: Cognitive bias results in faulty weighing up Griffiths
gamblers. [1994]
AO3 LINKS:
Publication bias
Gender Bias
Explains restraint
Has implications for treatment.
LEARNING MODELS
Operant Conditioning
Initiation: Positive Reinforcement and the meso-limbic system.
Griffiths [2009] Gamblers
Maintenance and Relapse: Negative reinforcement
Classical Conditioning
Initiation: Secondary re-inforcers
Commentary
Explains conflict between conscious desire to stop and inability to:
conditioned response not conscious choice
Does not explain why some people who take drugs with positively reinforcing
effects do not become addicts: anyone who takes the drug should be
conditioned in the same way but they don’t so there must be other factors
involved.
Returning Vietnam veterans provide support Robins [`1975]
Treatment implications: Cue exposure
Maintenance and Relapse: threat of withdrawal symptoms
Environmental factors that precede drug dose become conditioned stimulus
Social Learning Theory
Initiation: Observation of positive or negative consequences
Lead to different outcome expectations.
DiBlasio and Benda [1993] Influence of peer groups
Maintenance and Relapse: Approach-Avoidance conflict
Presence of multiple cues arouses positive outcome expectations
Treatment implications: need to increase self-efficacy
Resistance training Botvin [2000]
AO3 LINKS
Evolutionary perspective: learning from occasional reinforcement
Behaviourist approach.
SLT and Internet addiction Lin et al [2008] Use of questionnaires
Correlations