Download Breaking bad habits: classical/operant conditioning and smoking

Breaking bad habits: classical/operant conditioning and smoking
March 5, 2013
Smokers find it difficult to quit because the environment is full of signals associated with smoking
cigarettes.
Addictions are difficult to break as we usually surround ourselves with people, paraphernalia or
situations that trigger the behavior that led to the addiction in the first place. But psychological
conditioning can be used to break bad habits.
Over a century ago, the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov made a discovery that still resonates with
both psychological experiments and popular culture. Classical conditioning predicts that by repeatedly
pairing a motivationally significant stimulus (such as food) with a particular signal (such as a ringing
bell) will result in a conditioned response when the signal is encountered (the bell rings in absence of
food.)
So the sound of a ringing bell will evoke a behavioral or conditioned response, such as salivation
(initially elicited by the food stimulus). A previously neutral stimulus can evoke a particular behavior
through an association with an emotionally significant outcome. Pavlov found that after repeatedly
pairing the food with the ringing bell his dogs would salivate just to the sound of the bell.
This theory doesn’t just apply to drooling dogs but has formed an important rationale for the
development, maintenance and relapse of drug-taking behaviors. Drugs are rewarding in nature and act
by increasing levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain.
Under normal circumstances, dopamine is involved in maintaining behaviors essential for survival,
such as obtaining food and sex. Drugs also act on this system and the brain associates the rewarding
high with the drug, motivating more drug taking. These systems become “hijacked” by the drugs of
abuse, producing maladaptive changes that preserve addictive behaviors.
Lighting up and learning
Nicotine, via tobacco, is one of the most heavily used addictive drugs in the word. In Australia,
smoking is the leading preventable cause of death, killing about 15,000 people every year. Quitting
smoking is difficult, and nicotine withdrawal symptoms include irritability, anxiety, difficulty
concentrating and insomnia.
Nicotine exerts physiological effects very rapidly. Nicotine from inhaling a cigarette reaches the brain
in about 10 to 20 seconds and there it binds to nicotinic receptors on neurons.
Stimulation of nicotinic receptors affect functions such as breathing and heart rate, and triggers the
release of dopamine. So the rewarding effects of smoking are very rapid. And the association between
smoking and its rewarding effect is very strong, and forms quickly.
Classical conditioning theory predicts that drug-related stimuli can become associated with the
rewarding aspects of using. These include drug paraphernalia (cigarette packets, syringes, bongs and
pipes) and environments where drug taking occurs. These stimuli can evoke responses, such as craving
and drug seeking, which is known as second-order conditioning.
One of the many dogs that Pavlov used in his experiments. Note the saliva catch container and tube
surgically implanted in the dog’s muzzle.
For smokers, just the sight of a cigarette packet can evoke the feeling of wanting to smoke. But this
isn’t restricted to smokers and drug addicts. We form associations with all kinds of environmental
stimuli and things we desire. Just looking at your smartphone, for instance, can create an urge to check
email.
These complex associations maintain behaviors and can also cause reinstatement when certain cues are
encountered. This is why smokers find it so difficult to quit – the environment is full of signals
associated with smoking cigarettes.
Breaking the habit
A prescription medication treatment for smoking addiction is Varenicline (known as Champix in
Australia, Canada and Europe and Chantix in the United States). Varenicline is a partial agonist at
nicotinic receptors - it stimulates nicotine receptors more weakly than nicotine does.
This reduces cravings for nicotine and decreases the satisfying effects of cigarettes because the
receptors are already occupied with the varenicline molecules, so nicotine can’t exert its full effect. It
decreases the rewarding effect of smoking and weakens the association between cigarettes and
pleasure.
Varencline has a success rate of about 22%, which is greater than Buproprion (Zyban), another
smoking cessation aid. But concerns have been raised about the potential side effect of depression in
both of these treatments.
Another reported effect of varenicline in some people is nausea, which can reduce smoking more
rapidly because the taste of tobacco becomes associated with nausea. This is called conditioned taste
aversion.
Varenicline as a smoking-cessation treatment may seem extreme, but its rationale is firmly established
in Pavlovian learning theory; a behavior will decrease when its reward is devalued. And if the behavior
becomes associated with something negative (such as feeling nauseous), it will occur even less.
We are fortunate that advances in medicine offer smokers more choices than ever before to help them
quit successfully. Some may seem more extreme than others but they’re all centered on breaking the
nicotine habit.
Name: _____________________________________
Directions: Complete the following questions after reading the article.
1. Explain the effects of:
Dopamine:
Nicotine:
2. Explain second-order conditioning.
3. Based on this article, explain and connect this quote to what you learned, “ Environmental factors
are powerful.”
4. How does Varencline reduce cravings for nicotine and decreass the satisfying effects of cigarettes?
5. What is a question you have about Varencline?
6. It’s only 22% effective…thoughts? Is it worth it?
7. Come up with a creative slogan for Varencline that you might see in an advertisement that connects
it to classical/operant conditioning.