explanations for nicotine addiction

Question 1

how is nicotine addiction explained via neurochemistry

Answer 1

neurons in the brain have NACHRS, Nicotine binds to the NACHR receptors causing dopamine to release. dopmine activity creates a pleasurable feeling of mild euphoria, stress relief and increased alertness. this pleasurable feeling is associated with nicotine intake. nachrs receptors shut down and no longer respond to nicotine. this increases tolerance- more nicotine is needed to produce the same affect

Question 2

what is the A03 for the neurochemical explanation for nicotine addiction

Answer 2

its reductionist- it reduces a complex behaviour such as addiction to a simple explanation of activity of neurotransmitters. it doesnt consider other explanations such as the learning theory. other factors need to be considered.

metholodogical issues, many studies using dopamine and nicotine were conducted on animals rather than humans. this creates problems as you may not be able to generalise the findings

Question 3

how can addiction be explained thorugh operant conditioning

Answer 3

positive reinforcement-smoking causes pleasent feelings of mild euphoria and stress relief making the person more likely to smoke

negative reinforcement- if you stop smoking it causes withdrawal symptoms so in order to avoid this you carry on

Question 4

how is addiction explained through classical conditioning

Answer 4

the UCS IS THE CIG- the NS-PUB, THE UCR is the pleasure from dopamine

the UCS and the NS pair for the CS to be the pub and after Cue reactivity the CR is smoking

Question 5

what is cue reactivity

Answer 5

when a person addicted to nicotine stops smoking the urge to relapse persists long after withdrawal symptoms dissappear. with regular smoking the person associates enviornmental factors with the rewarding effects of nicotine triggering relapse.

Question 6

how is nicotine addiction initiated

Answer 6

the SLT proposes that young people smoke due to parental and peer influences. also due to Vicarious reinforcement

Question 7

what is the A03 for the leaning theory explanation

Answer 7

research support-peer group influences have been found to be the primary influence for adolescents who experiment with smoking- the adolescents that smoked were more likely to hang out with other adolescents who also smoked. karcher and finn found that youth whose parents smoked were 1.88 times more likely to smoke.

research support for cue reactivity- carter and tiffany conducted a meta analysis of studies into the effectiveness of cue reactivity. typically studies presented dependent and non dependent smokers with images of smoking related cues. carter and tiffany found that dependent smokers reacted strongly to these cues reporting with high levels of craving and increased physiological arousal. the findings are consistent with the predictions that come from the cue reactivity theory

practical application, led to the development of CET, this involves presenting cues without the opportunity to engage in smoking behaviour. this leads to stimulus discrimination as without the reinforcement provided by the nicotine the association is extinguished thereby reducing the craving for nicotine.

incompetence- the learning theory doesnt explain why everyone takes nicotine and gets addicted, this suggests other factors are needed to fully explain why peoople become addicted such as genetic factors