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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
An investigation into studies which have been conducted into the role played by classical conditioning in the processes of drug addiction and tolerance. The evidence strongly suggests that contextual or environmental clues have a significant part to play both in the way in which tolerance to drugs is developed and maintained, and that the rate of relapse amongst formerly abstaining addicts may be directly related to environmental factors as well as the physiological process of addiction.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: JL5_JLaddictcond.doc
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on the individual. Consequently, if it were true that the only salient factor involved in the behavioral patterns of dependency was the physical interaction with the drug-receptor, then any use
of a drug by any individual would inevitably result in addiction. Therefore, it seems that there are other factors at work in the process of addiction, and that conditioning may
be more important in determining whether or nor addiction takes place than pharmacological considerations. Simmons (2001) points out that according to Siegels (1989) study, there may
a significant part played by contextual clues in the relapse of users who have succeeded in abstaining from drugs for some time. She notes that there have been reports by
relapsed users who specifically referred to such contextual cues and particular social situations which were seen to have contributed to the relapse, and points out that the role of environment
in the fuller understanding of the behavior of users is important. In classical conditioning, the UR is generally mimicked by the CR; however, as
Siegel (1983) shows, in some cases the CR and UR are in fact antagonistic, and hence it is more accurate to define the CR as that response which has the
most positive effect on the needs of the organism. Schwartz and Robbins (1995) for instance, found that injection of morphine produced a slower than normal response to pain in rats,
whereas the injection of saline produced a faster response. They therefore asserted that the CR to the injection itself is an increased awareness of pain, whereas the UR to morphine
is a diminished response. This would imply that the CR is in opposition to the UR. Siegel (1983) confirmed this in his study of heroin
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