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Psychology > A2 - addiction > Flashcards

A2 - addiction Flashcards

1
Q

what is the definition of addiction?

A

the compulsion to use a substance or carry out a behaviour despite the harmful consequences. It is the inability to stop to the extent that it interferes with the ability to engage in social activities/ meet deadlines

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2
Q

what is physical dependence?

A

occurs with the long­term use of many drugs, such as nicotine, heroin and prescription medicines such as painkillers and anti­-anxiety drugs.
Physical dependence involves the need to take a substance in order to feel ‘normal’. It can
be demonstrated by the person displaying withdrawal symptoms if they stop taking the substance. They can also become ‘tolerant’,
which means the body gets accustom to having the substance and an increased intake is
needed to feel the same effect.

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3
Q

what is psychological dependence?

A

occurs when a drug or behaviour becomes the most important
thing to a person’s thoughts, emotions and activities. The person may experience cravings,
which are intense desires to take the drug or to engage in the behaviour.
Even though the addiction may be non physical (e.g. gambling), it can still lead to psychological dependence

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4
Q

How can the two information­processing systems explain psychological dependence?

A

Two I.P. systems: rational (thinking) and experiential (feeling).
Rational ­ often related to cultural norms. Conscious, analytical and non­emotional.
Experiential ­ pre­conscious, automatic and emotionally­driven. How we feel.

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5
Q

what was the procedure of Isabell et al’s research into tolerance?

A

Isbell et al (1955), carried out research with a group of prisoners who’d volunteered to take part. They were given a measured
amount of alcohol every day for 13 weeks. The quantity was enough to keep them in a constant state of intoxication.

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6
Q

what were the findings of Isabell et al’s research into tolerance?

A

In the first two weeks, all of the prisoners showed measurable changes in blood alcohol levels and showed behavioural signs
of intoxication.
Both of these changes dropped in the following weeks, despite continuing with the same intake of alcohol.

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7
Q

What is tolerance?

A

when using a drug for a long time, increasingly larger doses are needed to experience the same effect as the body no longer responds in the same way to the drug

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8
Q

what are the 3 types of tolerance?

A
  1. metabolic tolerance
  2. receptor density changes
  3. learned tolerance
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9
Q

what is metabolic tolerance?

A

occurs when enzymes become more effective at metabolising the drug resulting in reduced concentrations in the blood and at the sites of drug action. This means the effect experienced is weaker than before so the user takes higher doses

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10
Q

what is changes in receptor density?

A

prolonged drug use can lead to changes in receptor density which reduces the response to the normal dose of the drug

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11
Q

what is learned tolerance?

A

users will become accustomed to functioning normally when under the influence of the drug and so higher doses are needed to experience an effect

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12
Q

what is withdrawal syndrome?

A

occurs with the discontinued use of a drug. As it wears off, symptoms such as shakes or anxiety occur and often have a negative impact. It is a representation of a physical dependence on a drug

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13
Q

what is acute withdrawal?

A

begins within hours and gradually resolves after a few weeks (physical dependence)

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14
Q

what is post acute withdrawal?

A

emotional and psychological turmoil as the brain re-balances itself

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15
Q

how could the claim that addiction runs in the family be investigated?

A

twin, family, adoption studies looking at concordance rates

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16
Q

what was the aim of Slutske et al’s gambling study?

A

to identify genetic and environmental influences

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17
Q

what was the method of Slutske et al’s gambling study?

A

2889 pairs of australian twins were interviewed investigating the role of genetic and environmental factors in gambling development

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18
Q

what were the results of Slutske et al’s gambling study?

A

male identical twins had a concordance rate of 0.49
non-identical male - 0.21

female identical - 0.55
female non-identical - 0.21

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19
Q

outline Vink et al’s study on smoking

A

1572 dutch twin pairs found that the initiation of smoking is 44% genetic and 56% environmental

found that addiction as influenced 75% by genetic factors

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20
Q

what is the genetic vulnerability explanation?

A

individuals who are vulnerable to drug addiction have low levels of dopamine and have less responsive D2 receptors

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21
Q

what effect does it have when your D2 receptors are less responsive?

A

fewer dopamine molecules can bind to these receptors and initiate action potentials in the post-synaptic membrane.
therefore, anything that increases dopamine can produce and increased feeling of euphoria

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22
Q

what gene is related to the decreased D2 sensitivity?

A

A1

23
Q

limitation of the genetic vulnerability explanation - gender differences

A

E - Mgue points out that only two of four adoption studies have reported a significant correlation between alcoholism in female adoptees and their biological parents.
Likewise, only 2/5 twin studies found greater concordance rates for alcoholism among female M twins than male MZ

24
Q

strength of genetic explanation research

A

P - a strength of of research into the genetic explanation for addiction is that it can explain why some people with similar environmental influences develop addictions and others dont
E - some ppl are more likely to develop addiction. For example, the A1 variant of the dopamine receptor gene has been found to be linked with ocain and nicotine dependance
E - suggesting individuals who inherit this gene variant are more vulnerable to developing addiction

25
Q

what is the definition of stress?

A

negative physiological and psychological responses where people perceive threats to their wellbeing are beyond their perceived ability to cope

26
Q

what is the self-medication model?

A

individuals dealing with stressful events of lifestyles by engaging in behaviours that help reduce their symptoms and forget about stress

27
Q

what is evidence for stress as a risk factor?

A

Dawes et al identified stress was the greatest predictor of relapse and drug craving

28
Q

what is evidence of PTSD influencing drug use?

A

Robins et al interviewed US soldiers within a year of returning from the Vietnam war
- 50% had reported using opium or heroine
- 20% reported a dependance

29
Q

support for using stress as a risk factor of obedience - stress management courses

A

E - Mathney and Weatherman followed up on 263 smokers who had completed a cesstation programme
F - they found that there was a strong correlation between use of stress coping resources and maintaining abstinance
E - suggests stress management techniques are effective

30
Q

limitation of using stress as a factor of addiction

A

P - influences of stress varies by the type of addiction
E - Arevalo et al interviewed 393 women in substance abuse programmes and found an association between stress and drug use but not stress and alcohol addiction
H - however, this used self report measures which may face social desirability bias and under reporting drug use

31
Q

what are the 3 character traits making someone more vulnerable to addiction related to personality

A
  1. personality traits
  2. addiction prone personality
  3. personality disorders
32
Q

what did Cloninger propose behaviour was made up of?

A

novelty seeking
harm avoidance
reward dependence

33
Q

what levels of

novelty seeking
harm avoidance
reward dependence

are seen in addictive ppl and what type of personality does this make?

A

novelty seeking - high
harm avoidance - low
reward dependence - high

neurotic personality

34
Q

what did Barnes et al develop and find about addiction prone personality

A

They developed APP scale to assess the influence of personality on addictive behaviour

found personality to be a significant predictor of heavy marijuana use

therefore helps predict relapse

35
Q

what is the prelevance of personality disorder in

alcoholics
cocain addicts
opiate addicts
polydrug addicts

A

% in alcoholics
70% in cocain addicts
% in opiate addicts
91% in polydrug addicts

36
Q

longitudinal evidence to support the influence of impulsivity for addiction - AO3

A

higher impulsivity scores have been linked to a wide range of risky behaviours including alcohol and drugs.
Alcohol prone individuals with high impulsivity schore had higher mortality risk than others
H - however, the research is correlational not causational and there may be a third variable

37
Q

AO3 - evidence for certain personality traits as a risk factor for obedience

A

Barnes found personality to be a significant predictor for the initiation, development and maintenance of abuse and dependence
This application could help identify vulnerable individuals and intervene before addiction, eventually reducing cost needed for treatment

38
Q

How does social learning theory explain the influence of parents on addiction? (modelling)

A

when a child observes their parent and identifies with them (a role model) they may decide whether the behaviour is worth imitating via vicarious reinforcement, then either repeat or not repeat the actions depending on the consequence

39
Q

Reith and Dobbie researched the influence of family on gambling behaviour and found:

A

when interviewing 50 gamblers, their knowledge and behaviour was passed on through routines of every day life. They reported watching and listening to family members talk about their gambling and eventually joined in

40
Q

gender modelling and examples of men and women

A

men were more likely to place bets on sports whereas women on bingo

41
Q

what did fletcher et al fins about parenting style in relation to addiction

A

parents rated as authoritative, show warmth, and exercise control resulted in children with resilience and emotional wellbeing

42
Q

supporting evidence for the influence of parenting style in risk of addiction - AO3 chills parents

A

Bahr et al found that family characteristics of overly tolerant and relaxed attitudes to substance use were associated with an increased prevelance of binge drinking, smoking and drug use.
These adolescents also interacted more with peers who smoked

43
Q

supporting evidence for the influence of parenting style in the risk of addiction - AO3 lack of parental control

A

A lack of parental involvement may increase the vulnerability to addiction.
Stattin and Kerr suggested a lack of control may result from adolescents disclosing too much information about their substance abuse to parents, and parents cant deal with it and feel it’s beyond their control
Resulting in continuous abuse and becoming more vulnerable.

44
Q

what are the effects of nicotine?

A

calming, reduced irritability, increased alertness, improved cognitive functioning

45
Q

how is nicotine absorbed and how long till it reaches its peak levels

A

absorbed through lining of mouth and nose
less than 10 seconds

46
Q

explain the dopamine reward pathway

A
  1. nicotine enters brain
  2. stimulates nicotine receptors in ventral tegmental area
  3. dopamine releases in nucleus accumbent
  4. also stimulates release of the neurotransmitter glutamate which releases more dopamine
  5. pleasure likely to lead to addiction
47
Q

how does nicotine effect GABA?

A

GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter which decreases dopamine activity
- nicotine reduces GABA activity

48
Q

how does nicotine effect glutamate?

A

causes glutamate to speed up dopamine release

49
Q

how does nicotine effect MAO?

A

it is an enzyme that breaks down dopamine
nicotine blocks its action

50
Q

how does nicotine addiction develop?

A

nicotine stimulates release of dopamine which creates pleasure and relaxation

when dopamine is removed, loss of pleasure feeling, want of more nicotine

51
Q

support for the connection between nic and dopamine AO3

A

P - Paterson and Markou found that a drug used to treat epilepsi (GVG)
E - reduces the surge of dopamine in the NAc that occurs after taking nicotine.
This reduces the addictive tendencies of nicotine and other drugs that boost levels of dopamine such as cocain and heroine
E - by counteracting any pleasurable experiences, this drug is an alternative treatment for nicotine addiction

52
Q

support of neurochemistry explanation of nicotine - parkinsons

A

E - symptoms of parkinsons are due to gradual loss of dopamine producing neurons
Forgestron et al treated 2 elderly PD patients with nic gum and patches. They found significant changes in symptoms due to the increase of dopamine
E - suggesting that nicotine may have a neuroprotective function against the development of PD and may be beneficial in its treatment

53
Q

support for the role of glutamate in nicotine addiction

A

P - the role of glutamate in nicotine addiction is shown through a study of dependant rats
E - the researcher blocked transmission of glutamate which resulted in a decrease of nicotine intake and seeking
This is because glutamate usually enhances dopamine effects
H - however, since this is on rats it is hard to apply to humans

54
Q
A

Psychology (11 decks)

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