Social Learning Theory
 Hand
 Using
out complete
one of the pictures from
the prep, describe how
Bandura’s theory could link to
explaining initiation of
addiction
In pairs: Write a story...
From a Learning perspective!
Candice becomes initiated to smoking
because…
Her addiction to nicotine is maintained
because…
After giving up for a year she relapses
because…
Exam Q (June 2011)
 Outline
the learning model of
addiction. (5 marks)
Evaluating the Learning Approach!
“This House Believes…
That Drug Addicts Should Not Be Punished Because
they are not responsible for their Behaviour”
You will be
supporting or
opposing the
statement
“This House Believes…
That Drug Addicts Should Not Be Punished Because they are not
responsible for their Behaviour”
Table 1 - Nature
Table 2 - Nurture
Table 3 -Freewill
Table 4 - Determinism
(Table 5 –Situational)
The rest of
the lesson to
prepare!
Prep- are your
statements ready for
the debate next
lesson!
You will have 5
minutes to prepare!
“This House Believes…
That Drug Addicts Should Not Be Punished Because they are not
responsible for their Behaviour”
Instructions
Each table will take it in turns to support or
oppose the statement
Each statement must begin with “This party
supports or opposes the house because…”
You response to another party must be relevant
to the previous statement and start “We
support or oppose the previous party
because…”
Any statement not beginning in this way will be
over-ruled by the judge (ME!)
You must include a STUDY or an EXAMPLE
The team who score the most points by using
valid statements – WIN!
Burger Paragraph!
Possible paragraph layout:
Present your evidence
What does this evidence suggest
The Learning approach to addiction originates from Skinner’s Theory of Operant
Conditioning; the belief that any behaviour we are rewarded for is repeated. He based this
on his studies with pigeons; rewarding them whenever they pecked a red button, which
they continued to do until the reward was stopped. He found behaviour persisted the most
when rewards were of a variable ratio; the timing of a reward is random and therefore
unpredictable.
This suggests that all addictions are based on the idea that they offer a positive reward;
psychologically or physically. For example gambling rewards the player with money and a
joyful feeling. Therefore, the approach can not only explain why people gamble again after
winning, but why they also continue to gamble even after a number of loses; the individual
believes ‘it could be the next time’, due to the variable nature of the reward ratio.
We should be cautious when using the Learning Approach to explain addictive behaviour
as it is a reductionist approach; saying that only behaviour that is rewarded will continue. It
ignores other factors that play a part in our behaviour such as negative thought processes;
addiction could be the result of a reaction to emotional trauma and used as coping
mechanism.
Question your evidence, is it strong
evidence or are there problems?
This matters because....................
Furthermore if the development of an addiction was solely the outcome of reward; how is
it that the prevalence rates for alcoholism in families is 36% compared to 9% of men and
4% of women in the general population. Similarly nicotine dependence has been shown to
be 60% – 70% heritable. Alongside this the Learning Approach does not account for
individual differences in rates of addiction that maybe accounted for by the inheritance of a
more sensitive mesolimbic dopamine pathway (Liebman and Cooper, 1989).
The Learning Approach allows for the development of effective treatments based on
punishment and token economies; often used in rehabilitation centres. But it also ignores
the possible underlying biological causes for the addiction which behavioural treatments
may not tackle and therefore make relapse after treatment more likely.
Possible paragraph layout:
Present your evidence
What does this evidence suggest
The Learning approach to addiction originates from Skinner’s Theory of Operant
Conditioning; the belief that any behaviour we are rewarded for is repeated. He based this
on his studies with pigeons; rewarding them whenever they pecked a red button, which
they continued to do until the reward was stopped. He found behaviour persisted the most
when rewards were of a variable ratio; the timing of a reward is random and therefore
unpredictable.
This suggests that all addictions are based on the idea that they offer a positive reward;
psychologically or physically. For example gambling rewards the player with money and a
joyful feeling. Therefore, the approach can not only explain why people gamble again after
winning, but why they also continue to gamble even after a number of loses; the individual
believes ‘it could be the next time’, due to the variable nature of the reward ratio.
We should be cautious when using the Learning Approach to explain addictive behaviour
as it is a reductionist approach; saying that only behaviour that is rewarded will continue. It
ignores other factors that play a part in our behaviour such as negative thought processes;
addiction could be the result of a reaction to emotional trauma and used as coping
mechanism.
Question your evidence, is it strong
evidence or are there problems?
This matters because....................
Furthermore if the development of an addiction was solely the outcome of reward; how is
it that the prevalence rates for alcoholism in families is 36% compared to 9% of men and
4% of women in the general population. Similarly nicotine dependence has been shown to
be 60% – 70% heritable. Alongside this the Learning Approach does not account for
individual differences in rates of addiction that maybe accounted for by the inheritance of a
more sensitive mesolimbic dopamine pathway (Liebman and Cooper, 1989).
The Learning Approach allows for the development of effective treatments based on
punishment and token economies; often used in rehabilitation centres. But it also ignores
the possible underlying biological causes for the addiction which behavioural treatments
may not tackle and therefore make relapse after treatment more likely.
Outline and evaluate the
learning approach to
explaining problem gambling.
(4 marks + 6 marks)
Homework