addictive - individual: cognitive biases

Question 1

reliability

Answer 1

P: One weakness is that in order to find out about an individual’s condition, we need to use questionnaires which can be reliable.
E: This is especially relevant in research by Griffiths et al (1994) and Joukhador et al (2003). This makes research very susceptible to issues such as Social desirability bias, ecological validity and demand characteristics, especially when concerning socially sensitive issues such as addiction. Especially when creating qualitative data that is subjective and prone to researcher bias.
T: Therefore this means that we cannot be sure that the conclusions made from these researchers are completely reliable and consistent.
C: However, there’s no other way to gather such data with the same level of depth and insight without crossing over any ethical boundaries.

Question 2

useful application

Answer 2

P: A strength to this theory is that it lends itself to practical application through treatments developed using the explanation, such as cognitive restructuring
E: This is when clients are taught to see the thoughts they have when gambling are irrational. Griffins (1994) suggests that verbalisations he asked gamblers to make while gambling, could be played back to them and might help highlight their irrational behaviour. He found this to be successful on a small scale and gamblers reported finding it useful in overcoming their addiction
T: Therefore, by having practical applications that work efficiently it increases the likelihood that the explanation is valid and reliable, as well as increasing the credibility
C: However, while cognitive restructuring may show short-term success in addressing irrational thoughts, it may not fully address the underlying emotional or psychological factors contributing to addiction. Therefore leading to ineffective long-term treatment

Question 3

cause and effect

Answer 3

P: One weakness is that explanation doesn’t provide a concrete falsifiable explanation of the choices addicts will make as a result of their cognitive biases
E: Griffiths (2013) used the National lottery as an example of this issue. When there was a triple roll over in the national Lottery for the first time the media reported that the number 13 had come up fewer times than any over number. The issue is that representative bias would lead to people being more likely to choose number 13, whereas availability bias would lead to people not picking the number 13.
T: Therefore it doesn’t allow us to predict data as there’s no pattern for which Heuristic or which bias people use. Therefore this is a problem as we can’t develop treatments.
C: However, there are treatments that have shown to be effective (such as CBT).