Behavioural Perspectives
Addictive drugs act as reinforcers
Most 'addictive' drugs will support self-administration, but special procedures may be needed to
start administration. The pattern of responding may vary depending upon:
1. the schedule of delivery
2. the animals' prior history
3. the stimuli present
e.g., Deneau et al. (1969) – monkeys would use drugs as part of the study
Monkeys would administer
• Morphine, Cocaine, Amphetamine, Pentobarbital, Ethanol
They would not administer
• Nalorphine, Chlorpromazine, Mescaline, Saline
Only 2 of 6 administered caffeine
How do you distinguish goal-directed and habitual behaviour?
- Dickinson, Wood & Smith (2002) suggested drugs may be more likely to give rise to stimulus-
response habits.
- Responding is often sensitive to the value of a reinforcer.
- Devaluation by satiation or conditioned aversion normally reduces the rate of responding to
that reinforcer.
- In two studies rats responded on one lever for food pellets and another for alcohol. Different
groups were given a conditioned taste aversion to one of the two reinforcers.
- When no reinforcers were available responding on the food lever was reduced by
devaluation, responding on the alcohol level was not.
- Some later studies do show devaluation to affect responding to drug reinforcers, and other
reinforcers can become habitual, for example following over-training.
- Habitual behaviour happens automatically
The effects of conditioned stimuli?
- Hogarth & Chase (2011) showed in human smokers that devaluation by satiety or health
warnings reduced responses to both cigarettes and chocolate. However, the presentation of
stimuli associated with one reward increased responding irrespective of devaluation. –
people worked less hard to achieve alcohol.
- This Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer has also been found to be insensitive to devaluation in
animal studies. Increased how much work people worked for the rewards.
- They suggest individual differences primarily influenced the reward value of smoking, rather
than the ease with which it became habitual, at least in their young smokers.
Individual difference
Addictive drugs act as reinforcers
Most 'addictive' drugs will support self-administration, but special procedures may be needed to
start administration. The pattern of responding may vary depending upon:
1. the schedule of delivery
2. the animals' prior history
3. the stimuli present
e.g., Deneau et al. (1969) – monkeys would use drugs as part of the study
Monkeys would administer
• Morphine, Cocaine, Amphetamine, Pentobarbital, Ethanol
They would not administer
• Nalorphine, Chlorpromazine, Mescaline, Saline
Only 2 of 6 administered caffeine
How do you distinguish goal-directed and habitual behaviour?
- Dickinson, Wood & Smith (2002) suggested drugs may be more likely to give rise to stimulus-
response habits.
- Responding is often sensitive to the value of a reinforcer.
- Devaluation by satiation or conditioned aversion normally reduces the rate of responding to
that reinforcer.
- In two studies rats responded on one lever for food pellets and another for alcohol. Different
groups were given a conditioned taste aversion to one of the two reinforcers.
- When no reinforcers were available responding on the food lever was reduced by
devaluation, responding on the alcohol level was not.
- Some later studies do show devaluation to affect responding to drug reinforcers, and other
reinforcers can become habitual, for example following over-training.
- Habitual behaviour happens automatically
The effects of conditioned stimuli?
- Hogarth & Chase (2011) showed in human smokers that devaluation by satiety or health
warnings reduced responses to both cigarettes and chocolate. However, the presentation of
stimuli associated with one reward increased responding irrespective of devaluation. –
people worked less hard to achieve alcohol.
- This Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer has also been found to be insensitive to devaluation in
animal studies. Increased how much work people worked for the rewards.
- They suggest individual differences primarily influenced the reward value of smoking, rather
than the ease with which it became habitual, at least in their young smokers.
Individual difference
