The Learning Model of Addiction

Social Learning: AO1

Initiation:

• Observed valued role models indulging in the addictive behaviour and imitating their behaviour

Vicarious reinforcement: seeing valued role models being rewarded for their addictive behaviour makes it more likely we will imitate them

Operant conditioning: AO1
Maintenance:

Positive reinforcement: we will learn a behaviour if we are rewarded for it
e.g. Dopamine rush, being a part of a 'cool' group, weight loss

Negative reinforcement: we learn a behaviour if it enables us to avoid negative feelings
e.g. Withdrawal symptoms

Classical conditioning: AO1

Relapse:

Cue reactivity paradigm:

• Addicts associate environmental cues such as lights and packets of cigarettes/scratch cards with addiction
• These cues then begin to elicit withdrawal symptoms that lead a smoker to crave nicotine or a gambler to crave the buzz of gambling and relapse 

EVALUATION:

Strengths:

• Individual differences in addictive behaviour can be explained by different learning
  experiences

Weaknesses:

• Simplistic view - more than just stimulus response
• Ignores the convincing biological evidence

However...

• Biopsychosocial: biological vulnerability interacts with social influences

Application to smoking: 

Initiation:

Lader and Matheson (1991): parents are a major influence on whether children start smoking. Children twice as likely to smoke if parents are smokers

... This shows that observing others has an impact on whether you start…