Learning Approach: Smoking

• Classical conditioning:

  Classical conditioning is learning through association, where two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response in a person
• Conditioned cues

  A sign or reminder
• (Negative reinforcement)

  Negative reinforcement removes an unpleasant condition after the behaviour is displayed in order to increase its future occurrance
• (Positive reinforcement)

  Uses a desirable consequence to increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated
• Role models:

  Someone who is desirable and wanting to copy them
• Self efficacy:

  a person’s belief they can succeed
• Initiation: (parental and peer models)

  a child or adolescent sees peers or adult smoking. They observe individuals get pleasure or reward from smoking, and therefore begin smoking themselves.
• Initiation (Positive reinforcement)

  Nicotine is a powerful reinforcer of smoking behaviour
• Maintenance (Negative Reinforcement)

  Individuals do not want to experience withdrawal, and so continue to smoke
• Maintenance (Classical conditioning)

  The smoker learns an association between the sensation involved in smoking and its pleasurable effects. Things such as the feeling of holding a cigarette start as a neutral stimulus however they then get paired with the effects of smoking and become conditioned
• Relapse (Conditioned cues)

  the pleasurable effect of smoking is called a primary reinforcer. It is reinforcing in itself. Lots of different things however become associated with smoking- they become cues which then trigger smoking.
• Relapse (self-efficacy)


  A persons belief in their ability to stop smoking. Therefore low self-efficacy is key to relapse, because people don’t think that they are strong enough to stop
• Evaluation: Strengths

  ·         *We can use the learning approach to develop effective treatment plans such as conversion therapy

  ·         *Conditioned cues do play a role in nicotine addiction
• Evaluation: Weakness

  it cannot explain all nicotine addiction