Download Classical Conditioning & Drug Effects

Classical
Conditioning
& Drug Effects
Lecture 13
Learning & Drug-taking Behavior
Learning can be maladaptive
 phobias
 obsessive/compulsive disorder
 Drug-taking behavior
 Role of learning in drug-taking
 Motivation, acquisition, & maintenance
 Operant & Classical conditioning
 Same rules as any acquired response ~

Associative Learning
Operant learning
 Attempt to change environment
 Controlled by consequences
 Acquisition & maintenance
 Classical Conditioning (Respondent)
 Involuntary behavior
 Triggered by external events
 Learned “reflexes”
 Motivation
 Alters drug effects ~

Motivation
Will expend energy to achieve goal
 Approach or Avoidance
 What “motivates” behavior?
 Physiological responses
 Emotional responses
 Cognitive response
 Involuntary responses
 Both innate & learned ~

Learning Associations
Signal--Important event
 Based on reflexes
 stimulus  response
 automatic (involuntary)
 After association learned…
 signal triggers response ~

Reflexive Behavior
Unconditional Stimulus (US)
 Biologically important
 Survival value
 Unconditional Response (UR)
 Reflexive response
 Automatic ~

Learned Behavior
Conditional stimuli (CS)
 Initially neutral
 Becomes a signal/cue
 Conditional Response (CR)
 Learned response
 Elicited by CS ~

Classical Conditioning
CS
US
TONE
FOOD
UR
SALIVATION
After Classical Conditioning
CS only
Tone
Salivation
Conditional
Response
CERs & Motivation
Emotional component to URs
 Associated with contextual cues
 CS+ / CS-  CER
 CERs often motivate behaviors
 including drug-taking
 Hedonism / Self-medication
 Lead to reinforcement ~

CER (affect)
CS+
Positive
Negative
CS-
Negative
Positive
Appetitive
Aversive
US
Drugs & Classical Conditioning
Unconditional Stimulus (US)
 Drug’s interaction with nervous
system
 Unconditional Response (UR)
 Drug effect(s)
 Conditional stimuli (CS)
 Cues for administration
 Conditional Response (CR)
 Homogenic or heterogenic? ~

Conditioned Withdrawal
Opiate addicts
 Naloxone  withdrawal
 CS: contextual cues
 syringe, sounds, location, etc. ~

Classical Conditioning: Heroin Addicts
Conditional
Stimulus
Syringe
Unconditional
Stimulus
Naloxone
Unconditional
Response
Withdrawal
Classical Conditioning: Heroin Addicts
Conditional
Stimulus
Syringe
Withdrawal
Conditional
Response
Conditioned Drug Responses
Same laws of any learned behavior
 Acquisition (CS – US)
 Gradual strengthening of CR
 Relatively permanent
 Extinction (CS – no US)
 Gradual weakening of CR
 Cues no longer predict drug
 Relatively permanent? ~

Recovery of Extinguished Response
Spontaneous Recovery
 just passage of time
 Disinhibition
 CS in new context
 Renewal Effect
 Extinction in different context than
acquisition
 Reacquisition
 CR re-established in fewer trials ~

What does it all mean?
Demonstrate association intact
 CR is inhibited
 Spontaneous recovery & Disinhibition
 Might trigger relapse
 Reacquisition
 Craving / habit reestablished quickly
 Operant conditioning
 Same phenomena ~
