Addiction Flashcards

Question

How does desensitisation occur

Answer 1

1. Dopamine is transmitted when nicotine binds to nAChRs – nicotinic acetylcholine receptors 2.Once dopamine is transmitted, the neurons shut down and become desensitised (less responsive) to other neurotransmitters

Answer 2

Most nAChRs are found in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain, which plays a significant role in reward and motivation (the dopamine reward system

Answer 3

Dopamine is transmitted along the mesolimbic pathway, towards the nucleus accumbens (NA) ⚫ Dopamine is transmitted along the mesocortical pathway

Answer 4

The rush of dopamine to the frontal cortex causes the rewarding effects, reinforcing the use of nicotin

Answer 5

nAChRs are continuously desensitised while someone smokes – but after a prolonged period of not smoking (e.g. overnight) nicotine leaves the body and the neurons resensitise and become functional again

Answer 6

Withdrawal symptoms

Answer 7

Without nicotine in the system, the nAChRs become overstimulated with acetylcholine instead this is when they are most sensitive ⚫ Therefore, when the first cigarette of the day is smoked, it is the most rewarding

Answer 8

A habitual smoker will experience constant desensitisation (while smoking) and resensitisation (while sleeping) of nAChRs ⚫ this eventually causes long-term desensitisation (and therefore dependence

Answer 9

The constant exposure of nicotine to nAChRs then causes a decrease in active receptors on neurons ⚫ This eventually leads to less and less dopamine reaching the frontal cortex (and therefore tolerance

Answer 10

McEvoy et al. (1995) investigated smoking behaviour in patients with schizophrenia who were taking antipsychotic drugs for treatment ⚫ Antipsychotics are dopamine antagonists (blockers) which reduce overall levels of dopamine ⚫ They found that patients smoked significantly more when taking the drug (presumably to compensate for depleted dopamine levels caused by the antipsychotics) ⚫ This (indirectly) validates the role of dopamine in nicotine addiction

Answer 11

Determinism The brain neurochemistry explanation is biologically deterministic – the effect nicotine has in the brain is out of our control which makes nicotine addiction inevitable ⚫ Some individuals smoke cigarettes and do not form an addiction ⚫ Some can quit very easily and experience little to no withdrawal symptoms ⚫ Furthermore, some researchers have argued that personality factors may explain these differences better ⚫ E.g. those with high levels of neuroticism experience worse withdrawal symptoms than those with low level

Answer 12

The brain neurochemistry explanation for nicotine addiction has led to a successful therapy ⚫ Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) ⚫ NRT in the form of gum, patches and inhalers contain controlled doses of nicotine (the addictive substance) without the damaging effects of tobacco ⚫ The nicotine binds to nAChRs, mimicking the effects of smoking – including the dopamine rush ⚫ NRT satisfies cravings and safely reduces withdrawal symptoms as doses can be reduced over a few weeks

Answer 13

⚫ Initiation ⚫ Explained with operant conditioning (positive reinforcement) ⚫ Maintenance ⚫ Explained with operant conditioning (negative reinforcement) ⚫ Cue reactivity (relapse) ⚫ Explained with classical condition

Answer 14

Positive reinforcement ⚫ Nicotine initially has immediate positive consequences increased frequency ⚫ Inhaling nicotine dopamine release dopamine reward system euphoria/pleasure (reward)

Answer 15

Negative reinforcement ⚫ Withdrawal symptoms occur without nicotine (behavioural, cognitive and mood-related) ⚫ Symptoms are removed with smoking – smoking continues in order to remove the negative effects of withdrawal (dependenc

Answer 16

Individuals learn to associate the positive effects of smoking with smoking-related cues – secondary reinforcers ⚫ These include specific moods (frustration), situations (social smoking), environments (weather) and stimuli (e.g. lighters) ⚫ When exposed to smoking-related cues relapse is easily triggered

Answer 17

⚫ Sensory stimuli associated with smoking are conditioned from being a neutral stimulus to a conditioned stimulus ⚫ The new CS tricks the brain into thinking nicotine is entering the system – when this doesn’t happen the body responds, usually with withdrawal symptoms ⚫ This then increases the likelihood of relapse

Answer 18

If nicotine addiction is conditioned, then it can be tackled with counterconditioning ⚫ (replacing the learned association with a new association) ⚫ Aversion therapy – smoking can be paired with unpleasant stimuli (e.g. electric shocks) to replace the association with pleasure ⚫ Smith (1988) got ppts to self-administer electric shocks whenever they engaged in smoking-related behaviour ⚫ After one year, 52% of the ppts were still abstaining from smoking, more than double the usual 20-25% that remain abstinent after deciding to give up smoking

Answer 19

Research has shown there to be gender differences in both the initiation and maintenance of smoking ⚫ Lopez et al. (1994)- found that women start smoking later than men do ⚫ Baewert et al. (2014) – found that women are more likely to smoke in a stressful situation than men – suggesting women have a greater psychological dependence ⚫ Additionally, women experience withdrawal symptoms sooner than men do, so find it more difficult to quit

Answer 20

⚫ Cue reactivity ⚫ Carter and Tiffany (1999) conducted a meta-analysis on 41 studies that had investigated cue reactivity ⚫ Studies involve presenting dependent smokers, ‘non-dependent’ smokers and non-smokers with images of smoking related cues (e.g. lighters, ash trays). Cravings are measured via self-report and physiological arousal is measured via heart rate ⚫ The studies consistently show dependent smokers to react most strongly to the cues, with higher heart rates and stronger cravings reported – even without any nicotine present ⚫ Dependent smokers learn secondary associations between smoking-related stimuli and pleasures of smoking, validating the role of cue reactivity

Answer 21

Direct reinforcement (positive and negative) ⚫ Vicarious reinforcement ⚫ Partial reinforcement ⚫ Variable reinforcement

Answer 22

1. One positive reinforcer is money (winning) ⚫ Continuing to win money reinforces the continuation of betting/waging to win again in the future 2. Another positive reinforcer is the ‘buzz’ experienced where the risk and uncertainty is exciting for many

Answer 23

1. Gambling is an escape for many where it offers a distraction from everyday life 2. Debt – winning money removes the deb

Answer 24

The experience of seeing others being rewarded for gambling – their pleasure, enjoyment and occasional financial return ⚫ This can be via newspapers, TV – e.g. reports of lottery winners in the media ⚫ This can trigger a desire to gamble in someone who has never gambled befor

Answer 25

When a behaviour is reinforced only some of the time it occurs (e.g. every 10th time)

Answer 26

⚫ When only some bets are rewarded there is an unpredictability about which gambles will pay off ⚫ This is enough for some to keep on gamblin

Answer 27

⚫ E.g. a slot machine may pay out after an average of 25 spins, but not on every 25th spin ⚫ It may pay out after the 11th, then 21st, then 38th, etc ⚫ It takes longer for learning to be established this way ⚫ This can explain why people continue to gamble even if they take big losses – they’ve learnt they will win eventuall

Answer 28

⚫ Gambling becomes associated with secondary reinforcers – these are stimuli associated with the excitement and arousal experienced with gambling ⚫ E.g. colourful scratch cards, betting shop atmospheres ⚫ These cues can trigger arousal that the gambler craves, increasing chances of rela

Answer 29

Learning theory can explain why gambling addicts fail to stop gambling, even if they intend to give up ⚫ Conditioning is an automatic process – we are not consciously aware of the associations made between the behaviours and reinforcers (we’re not aware that we’re learning addiction) ⚫ This means that a gambler does not need to make active decisions to continue gambling ⚫ So even when a gambler consciously chooses to stop gambling, the conscious desire may conflict with the automatic conditioning maintaining their behavio

Answer 30

Limitations ⚫ Learning theory is better at explaining some gambling addictions better than others ⚫ Gambling games vary in skill and chance ⚫ E.g. slot machines and scratch cards are completely down to chance ⚫ However games like poker require much more skill – there is more influence over chance of winning ⚫ Similarly, slot machine games are played consecutively whereas card games have more delay between them ⚫ Conditioning is more likely to occur in consecutive games Can’t generalise

Answer 31

Griffiths and Delfabbro (2001) argue that conditioning processes do not occur in everyone in the same ways ⚫ Responses to identical stimuli differ between individuals ⚫ Motivations also differ – some people gamble for relaxation and others for arousal ⚫ Some people stop gambling and never relapse, even when all exposed to the same cues

Answer 32

Expectancy theory

Answer 33

1.Gamblers have expectations about the future benefits and costs of their behaviour 2.If the benefits outweigh the costs, the addictive behaviour is more likely – this is believed about gambling 3There may be unrealistic expectations about what gambling willprovide (emotional support, riches, thrill) 4This is not a conscious process – therefore, rational decisions are not always mad

Answer 34

Irrational beliefs and distorted thinking patterns influence the maintenance of a gambling addiction

Answer 35

Cognitive biases includes: ⚫ Faulty perception - Gambler’s fallacy ⚫ Skill and judgement - Illusions of control ⚫ Personal traits/ritual behaviours (e.g. superstitions) ⚫ Selective recall/recall bia

Answer 36

This is the idea that random events are influenced by other recent events ⚫ If a gambler has had a losing streak they have the belief that it cannot last and will always end with a win

Answer 37

This is when a gambler overestimates their ability to influence or manipulate the outcome on an event ⚫ E.g. being highly skilled at choosing lottery numbers

Answer 38

Pathological gamblers have an exaggerated self-confidence in their ability to ‘beat the system’ ⚫ This is usually because they attribute their successes (wins) to their personal skills/abilities and attribute their losses to bad lu

Answer 39

Believing you are more likely to win because you are particularly lucky Or you have a lucky charm

Answer 40

Gamblers remember and overestimate details about their wins and ignore or discount details about their losses

Answer 41

Refers to our perception about our ability to reach a desired outcome If you believe you are not capable of quitting ,you’re less likely to The expectation to gamble again creates self fulfilling prophecies Reinforcing the bias belief

Answer 42

Used introspection to see if there were any differences in cognitive processes of 60 regular and occasional slot machine Ppts had to verbalise any thoughts that passed through their mind They were also interviewed about their opinions on the degree of skill needed to win Found that regular gamblers made 6X more irrational verbalisations than occasional gamblers Regular gamblers also overestimated the amount of skill required

Answer 43

Research has been critiqued for use of self report Introspection is not a suitable way to measure a gambling addicts cognitive bias Dickerson and O’Connor argues that what a gambler might say does not necessarily represent what they really think Suggests that researchers may have a misleading impression about gamblers belief

Answer 44

Have valuable implications for effective treatment E.g CBT can be used to correct cognitive biases (such as gamblers fallacy) - consequently reducing the motivation to gamble Echeburua- found that CBT was effective for preventing relapse in slot machine players

Answer 45

McCusker and Gettings (1997) gave ppts a modified stroop task – ppts had to say the name of the colour of the word and not the word ⚫ Rather than the words being names of colours, some words were random and some were gambling related (e.g. slots, races, bets) ⚫ There was no difference in time taken to do the task between gambling addicts and controls when the words were random ⚫ But gambling addicts were significantly slower than controls when the words were gambling related have a cognitive bias to attend to gambling related informatio

Addiction Flashcards

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