17.3.2 The Learning Theory of Nicotine Addiction

• Classical conditioning suggests that smoking behaviour, as all behaviour, is learned through the process of association
• An unconditioned stimulus , such as going out with friends, results in an unconditioned response of enjoyment and relaxation
• One day, an individual accepts a cigarette from a friend and smokes it, and this neutral stimulus  becomes associated with the unconditioned response of relaxation and enjoyment
• Smoking is therefore initiated and the individual then associates the cigarette smoking, which is now a conditioned stimulus with enjoyment and relaxation, which is the conditioned response

An example of how classical conditioning can explain the start of addiction to nicotine.

• Social learning theory can also explain how smoking starts, as young people observe and imitate role models (e.g. parents, peers, celebrities) around them who smoke and vicarious reinforcement leads them to expect enjoyment from smoking
• Cue reactivity explains how an individual addicted to nicotine associates the behaviour with a variety of smoking related cues such a lighter, or a certain mood, or even the location where the smoking usually occurs
• In the diagram above, hanging out with friends would trigger a desire to smoke and this would be an example of cue reactivity
• Cue reactivity is particularly important when  an individual is trying to give up smoking, as just being in certain places or with certain people can trigger the desire very strongly, as the location or the people act as cues

Meeting a friend for coffee in a familiar location and smoking illustrates cue reactivity.

• Operant conditioning explains why smoking continues, through the positive reinforcement  of nicotine in the dopamine reward system
• If the individual does not smoke for a few hours, then the feelings of agitation and anxiety (withdrawal symptoms) that arise act as  Negative reinforcement
• This negative reinforcement leads to the person having another cigarette to escape the anxiety and agitation

An explanation of the learning theory of nicotine addiction.

Research which investigates the learning theory of nicotine addiction

• Brynner (1969) found that media images of smoking created perceptions of smoking behaviour being attractive and ‘macho’, increasing motivation to smoke and this lends support to social learning theory being implicated in smoking
• DiBlasio & Benda (1993) found that adolescents who smoked also had friends who smoked and were more likely to conform to the social norm of a smoking group, lending support to the social learning theory argument of vicarious reinforcement
• Engelmann et al (2012) conducted a meta-analysis of studies using fMRI: smokers who were given smoking-related cues showed a more pronounced, intense neural response compared to when neutral cues were shown 

Evaluation of the learning theory of nicotine addiction

Strengths

• Learning theory has application as it shows that in order to cease smoking the smoker needs to not only avoid the nicotine but also avoid all the smoking related cues that are likely to trigger a return to the behaviour
• Evidence strongly supports social learning theory as the best explanation for starting smoking (see DiBlasio & Benda, 1993)

Weaknesses

• Animal research is often used to explain addiction in terms of learning theory, but there are issues with generalising results from this to human addiction, especially as it ignores the cognitive elements of social learning theory, meaning the findings may not be valid
• Learning theory does not take into consideration individual differences as many people are able to quit smoking and do not experience cue reactivity in the way suggested

Link to Approaches:

This explanation for nicotine addiction is a combination of two learning approaches: behaviourism, with reference to classical and operant conditioning and explanations through the concepts of stimulus,response and reinforcement; and social learning theory with considerations of imitation, identification, modelling and vicarious reinforcement.