addiction unit 4: psya4 miss bird (lcb) [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
AQA A SpecificationThe Psychology of Addictive Behaviour
Models of Addictive Behaviour
Biological, cognitive and learning approaches to explaining initiation, maintenance and relapse, and their applications to smoking and gambling.
Vulnerability to Addiction
Risk factors in the development of addiction, including stress, peers, age and personality.
Media influences on addictive behaviour.Reducing Addictive Behaviour
The theory of planned behaviour as a model for addiction prevention.
Types of intervention and their effectiveness, including biological, psychological and public health interventions.
Vulnerability to addiction
Why do some people develop addictions and others do not? It’s all about individual differences!
1. Stress.2. Peers.3. Age.4. Personality.
What is stress?
Stress is experienced when a person’s perceived demands of a situation are greater than their perceived ability to cope.
The experience of stress is as strongly influenced by our perception of a situation as it is by the actual situation itself (i.e. people perceive situations differently and may/may not be stressed about the same things).
It has been found that high levels of stress can be linked to addictive behaviours like smoking and gambling.
Independent taskSTRESS
Read the 3 studies in your booklet and answer the 6 questions.
NIDA (1999)Driessen et al (2008)Parrott (1995)
Extension task: Think about whether any of the pieces of research could be linked to the approaches we have studied.
RECAP: Social Learning Theory
Bandura. Observation. Imitation. Influential role models. Identification. Reward. Vicarious reinforcement. Mediational processes. Attention. Retention. Production. Motivation.
Independent tasks
PEERS
Read the study by Eiser et al (1991) in your booklets and apply K&U of SLT.
Read the paragraphs on SLT and SIT.
Class discussion.
Supporting research
Killen et al (1997)
Longitudinal study – 4 years. Investigated risk factors for initiation of
cigarette smoking in teenagers.Those with more friends who smoked were
significantly more likely to have tried smoking over the study duration.
The results suggest that associating with peers who smoke may indeed influence the likelihood of trying smoking.
Supporting research?
Killen et al (1997) However, this study does not investigate
addiction specifically, simply the likelihood of trying smoking.
Therefore the findings may not be an accurate indicator of the role of peers as a risk factor in developing an addiction.
Independent task
AGE
Read the study by Brown et al (1997) in your booklets.
Complete the concluding sentence.
Brown et al (1997)
Found that the influence of peers on smoking and drug use decreases in later adolescence with the role of close friends, and particularly romantic partners, becomes increasingly important as an influence on addictive behaviours.
This suggests that individuals are influenced by different people at different ages. It also indicates that adolescence is the peak time for increased vulnerability to addictive behaviours.
Hawkins (1997)
Practical applications – these research studies suggest that early interventions that aim to delay the first time use of alcohol (i.e. public health interventions and educational campaigns) could help prevent the development of addictions in later life.
Methodology of research studies – correlational and self-report techniques???
Hawkins (1997)
Correlational – cannot establish cause and effect.
Self-report techniques – retrospective – rely on memory (not always 100% accurate), social desirability bias/demand characteristics – may not be honest in interviews/questionnaires.
Personality: Eysenck (1967)
1. Extraversion – bored, seeks external stimulation to increase brain arousal.
2. Neuroticism – experience negative affect e.g. depression and anxiety.
3. Psychoticism – hostile, aggressive and impulsive (react with little forethought).
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is defined as the difference between our self-image and ideal self.
If the difference between our self-image and ideal self is small, then self-esteem is high; if the difference between our self-image and ideal self is large, self-esteem is low.
It has been suggested that low self-esteem may be a risk factor in developing addiction.
Correlational research
Problem of cause and effect.Certain personality traits may be
common amongst addicts.However this does not mean they
predict addictive behaviour i.e. the two are simply linked.
Even if there is a causal relationship, the question is whether the personality trait or the addiction comes first.
Independent task
PERSONALITY
Write down what you can remember from AS Psychology about ‘Locus of Control.’
What is ‘Locus of Control?’
A person’s perception of personal control over their own behaviour.
Measured along a dimension of ‘high internal’ to ‘high external.’
Locus of control
Internal ExternalLOCUS OF CONTROL
A person believes their behaviour is
caused primarily by their own personal
decisions and efforts.
A person believes their behaviour is
caused primarily by fate, luck or by other
external circumstances
Locus of control
Internal locus of control: individuals perceive themselves as having a great deal of personal control over their behaviour and are therefore more likely to take personal responsibility for it. They are responsible for their own decisions.
External locus of control: individuals perceive their behaviour as being caused more by external influences and therefore are less likely to take personal responsibility for it e.g. fate or luck. Other people have the power and make decisions for them.
Independent task
PERSONALITY
Read the research and complete the missing sentence.
Be prepared for Q&A!
Ethical issues in addiction research
Research in sensitive areas creates ethical issues for researcher.
‘Threat of sanction’ – involves the possibility that research may reveal information that is incriminating in some way.
E.g. when interviewing people with a drug addiction who may reveal illegal behaviours as part of the interview.
Researchers must weigh up the potential benefits (e.g. possibilities for intervention) against the potential risks (e.g. further discrimination/obligation to report to police).
Homework Copy the table in your booklet on to
A3 paper.Fill in the missing information using
your notes in your booklet.Alternatively make cue cards/revision
notes on risk factors for addiction.Due next lesson.
‘Ben’ scenario
Leave the ‘Ben’ scenario question.
We will come back to this during revision.
Exam focus: June 2010
A02 application question.‘Sally’ scenario.Use the box in your booklet to plan an answer to the question (bullet point ideas).
5 minutes, independently.
Exam focus: June 2010
A02 application question.‘Sally’ scenario.Use your plan to answer the exam question on the green worksheet.