Learning Theory

• Initiation


  Parental and peer role modelling and vicarious reinforcement
• Vicarious reinforcement modelling


  Teenagers observe their peers and role models smoking
• Operant conditioning


  Rewarded behaviours will increase in frequency - addictive instances and behaviours are rewarded immediately meaning they are learned quickly
• How does operant conditioning explain smoking continuation?


  Smoking is associated with positive feelings and therefore the continuation of the behaviour acts as a reward (positive reinforcement) causing continuation of the behaviour.
• Negative reinforcement


  Not smoking leaves an addicted individual feeling withdrawal symptoms, so they smoke to reduce those feelings
• Maintenance


  When repeated many times, smoking becomes an established behaviour because of the positive consequences. People maintain their habit because they don't want to deal with withdrawal symptoms
• Cue reactivity


  With regular smoking the person comes to associate specific moods, situations or environmental factors (smoking related cues) with the rewarding effects of nicotine. These cues often trigger relapse.
• Before conditioning


  Unconditioned stimulus -> unconditioned response
• During conditioning


  Neural stimulus + unconditioned stimulus -> unconditioned response
• After conditioning


  Conditioned stimulus -> conditioned response
• Unconditioned stimulus -> unconditioned response


  Cigarettes - smoking a cigarette
• Neural stimulus + unconditioned stimulus -> unconditioned response


  Beer garden + cigarettes -> smoking a cigarette
• Conditioned stimulus -> conditioned response


  Beer garden -> smoking a cigarette
• Supporting evidence for the role of SLT - NIDA (2005)


  90% of US smokers started smoking as adolescents.

  This was mainly attributed to observing and imitating peers.
• Supporting evidence for the role of SLT - Brynner (1969)


  Media images of smoking create perceptions of being attractive and tough.
• Supporting evidence for the role of operant conditioning - Goldberg et al (1981)


  - Monkeys were reinforced with nicotine for pushing a lever.

  - Monkeys pressed the lever at a rate that was a similar level to cocaine dependency.
• Supporting evidence for the role of cue reactivity - Calvert (2009)


  When regular smokers are shown cigarette packets, their brains show a physiological activation in the ventral striatum and nucleus accumbens (The Common Reward Pathway).

  - brains are activating at the sight of a cigarette packet
• Issues with animal research

  Issues with generalising the findings of animal research to human addiction, specifically the cognitive aspects of SLT.
• Gender differences in patterns of nicotine addiction


  Lopez et al (1994) found that women start smoking later than men and their smoking habits are often linked to stress not reward