DRR

1053 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Environment influence on human behavior

Aims - Experimental Hypothesis
"Animals repeatedly exposed to amphetamine (AMPH) in a distinctive environment would show sensitized responding not only if tested in that same environment but also if tested in a different but familiar context capable of inducing a positive affective state" (Yetnikoff & Arvanitogiannis, 2005).
Essentially, what Yetnikoff and Arvanitogiannis are trying to achieve is to determine whether or not contextual cues (environment) have an effect on the sensitization (refer to Concepts) of drugs.
Concepts - Psychomotor Stimulants
One of the core ideas behind the research undertaken by Yetnikoff and Arvanitogiannis is that "repeated exposure to psychomotor stimulant drugs results in an enhancement of their behavioural activating effects (Kalivas & Stewart, 1991; Robinson & Becker, 1986)".
Psychomotor stimulant drugs are any substance which induce an effect in the central nervous system. They evoke alertness, suppress appetite and cause an increase in locomotor activity (Van & Hurkmans, 1964). Locomotor activity essentially means movement.
In this experiment, amphetamine is looked at specifically as a psychomotor stimulant drug.
Amphetamine and Saline
Amphetamine (referred to as AMPH later on), from a psychological viewpoint, is used to raise awareness levels in recipients (Westfall & Westfall, 2011).
Saline is essentially a sodium chloride (salt) water solution. For this experiment, small dosages of AMPH were added to the solution. The saline alternative is used in order to test the effects of AMPH later in the experiment. This is because the rats will assume the AMPH is the same injection as the saline they were receiving earlier and as a result may express different behaviors.
Drug Addiction and Behavioural...

... middle of paper ...

... links to the 'real world' in the sense that it may help identify patterns in drug addicted humans, or animals. It displays the links between environment and some resources (in this case, oral sucrose) with behavioural sensitization. As a result, it has the potential to assist in the treatment of drug addiction.
How Does This Study Affect Future Research?
"The findings represented here offer a new perspective on the way that context modulates the expression of behavioural sensitization" (Yetnikoff & Arvanitogiannis, 2005).
Essentially, the study undertaken allows future researches to control their environments in a more effective manner to manipulate certain responses and behaviours in relation to sensitization. This study has also triggered investigations in order to determine if differences in environment relate to brain activation and the need to satisfy hunger.

Show More
Related

  • Methylphenidate: Calming Chaos or Cultural Genocide?

    885 Words  | 2 Pages

    The need for Ritalin and other CNS stimulants arises from a decreased amount of dopamine—a hormone closely linked to the motivational process((3)). A deficiency of this hormone can lead to difficulty in focusing and agitated behavior, among other traits1 ((1)). Methylphenidate, serving as a stimulant, augments the release of this hormone. The resulting state is similar to that after caffeine, on a milder scale, or amphetamines1 ((1)). This attribute can lead to the somewhat addictive nature of the drug.

    Read More

  • Fear Conditioning: A Case Study Essay

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kurayama, Matsuzawa, Komiya, Nakazawa, Yoshida, Shimizu, (2012) confirmed that these neutral stimuluses deed indeed has an effect and played a role in fear conditioning in people. The case showed that Treena had indeed learned to be scared of the incident and it proceeded to become a cue for to get anxious and get panic attacks. It has been claimed that patients with panic disorder exhibited fear potentiated startle responses to safety cues and therefore reduced discrimination between safety and danger signals during acquisition, indicating that the safety signal was processed as the aversive event in contrast to the danger signal (Nees, Heinrich, Flor, 2015). It also showed that the her failing to answer the question had affected her in other classes when she would not participate in other classes hence, this showed that the neutral stimulus has developed and grew into a conditioned stimulus which evoked feelings of fear and anxiety in her, in other words it had become a cue for her to be scared and

    Read More

  • Prescription Stimulant Misuse Among College Students

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    Prescription stimulant misuse can be defined as taking more of the medication than prescribed, or as taking the medication without a prescription. There have been many arguments on the reasons why there has been an increasing amount of college students who misuse prescription stimulants. Some psychologists argue that the misuse of prescription stimulants amongst college students is caused by stress brought upon by final exams and hard curriculum. However, other psychologists argue that the misuse of prescription stimulants is becoming more common amongst American college students for other reasons such as: differences amongst brain activity in college students, and misconceptions about the true risks of misusing prescription stimulants amongst

    Read More

  • Crack Cocaine Research Paper

    1695 Words  | 4 Pages

    This system operates through the release of various neurochemical transmitters (from the nerve cells in which they are produced) and their binding to receptor sites on neighboring cells. The constant release and binding of these neurotransmitters forms a pathway of “messages” that travel throughout the body, sustaining life and making possible the organism’s response to environmental stimuli. The drug also has an impact in the autonomic (or involuntary) division of the central nervous system, which helps regulate a variety of bodily functions that are generally free of volitional impact, including respiration, circulation, digestion, and body temperature. Ordinarily, these functions are maintained at relatively stable levels throughout the day. But they are slowed down during periods of rest through diminished production, release, and binding of neurotransmitters and can be speeded up, as needed, through increased neurotransmitter activity. It operates in the system by increasing the concentration and binding activity of the body’s own neurotransmitters, particularly dopamine. Thus, what people experience as the stimulant effect is an intensification of the body’s normal stimulatory mechanisms. (Pharmacodynamics: Cocaines Interaction with the Human Organism,

    Read More

  • Cue and Contextual Fear Conditioning

    1476 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fear conditioning is a commonly used behavioral paradigm to test an organism’s ability to create associations and learn to avoid aversive stimuli. There are two methodologies: cue and contextual fear conditioning (Kim & Jung, 2006). In cued fear conditioning, a neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US) which activates a strong unconditioned fear responses (UR). After a continued training period, the neutral CS is now able to activate a conditioned response (CR). Similarly, context conditioning occurs when the background or context cues, during the condition training, is able to predict the US and activate the fear response. For example, a mice can be placed in a novel environment and given an aversive stimulus (e.g. footshock). When the mice is returned to that same environment, it will display a CR (e.g. freezing). The mice’s ability for contextual fear conditioning is dependent on whether it was able to learn and associate its environment with the aversive stimulus. (Curzon, Rustay, and Browman, 2009)

    Read More

  • Crystal Meth Addiction

    1722 Words  | 4 Pages

    Drugs and Behavior, Rebecca Schilit and Edith Lisansky Gomberg, Page 62, SAGE Publications, Inc.- 1991

    Read More

  • Obsessive-compulsive Behaviors

    1936 Words  | 4 Pages

    of the biology of behavior in vague terms. The effect of a drug, and the

    Read More

  • Watson and Rayner’s Classical Study with Llittle Albert

    1737 Words  | 4 Pages

    The study by Watson and Rayner was to further the research of Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov was a Russian physiologist whose most famous experiments involved that of animals, specifically the unconditioned and conditioned reflexes of canines, in reference to salivation and conditioned emotional response. Pavlov demonstrated that if a bell was rang each time a dog was fed; ultimately the animal would befall conditioned to salivate at just the sound of the bell, even where food is was no longer present (The Salivation reflex). Watson and Rayner set out to further the research of conditioned stimulus response, with little Albert. ‘These authors without adequate experimental evidence advanced the view that this range was increased by means of conditioned reflex factors.’ (B.Watson, R Rayner , 1920).

    Read More

  • Methamphetamine History

    1334 Words  | 3 Pages

    Methamphetamine affects the central nervous system, and it causes the user to be more active, more talkative, euphoric (high), and also causes the user to lose their appetite. Methamphetamine came into existence in the early 20th century from the drug called amphetamine. Its earliest uses were as a nasal decongestant and as a bronchial inhaler. Methamphetamine is different from amphetamine in the fact th...

    Read More

  • Drug Addiction: A Brain Disease?

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    Drugs seem to cause surges in dopamine neurotransmitters and other pleasure brain messengers. However, the brain quickly adapts and these circuits desensitize, which allows for withdrawal symptoms to occur (3). Drug addiction works on some of the same neurobiological mechanisms that aid in learning and memories (3). "This new view of dopamine as an aid to learning rather than a pleasure mediator may help explain why many addictive drugs, which unleash massive surges of the neurotransmitter in the brain, can drive continued use without producing pleasure-as when cocaine addicts continue to take hits long after the euphoric effects of the drug have worn off or when smokers smoke after cigarettes become distasteful." (4)

    Read More

  • Substance Abuse: A Nationwide Epidemic

    2210 Words  | 5 Pages

    The most commonly abused substances are Nicotine, Inhalants, Alcohol, Cocaine, Amphetamines, Prescription medications, Heroin, Ecstasy and Marijuana. 1a(National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2011) Initially, a person may find themselves using substances voluntarily and with confidence that they will be able to dictate their personal use. However, over the period of time that drug use is repeated, changes are taking place throughout the brain, whether it is functionally or structurally. Drugs contain chemicals that enter the communication system of the brain and disturb the way in which nerve cells would typically send, receive, and process information. The chemicals within these drugs will cause a disruption to the communication system by either imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers or by over-stimulating the brains “reward system” by sending mass amounts of dopamine. As an individual prolongs his or her use of these substances, they may develop an addiction.

    Read More

  • Biology Of Cocaine Addiction

    1945 Words  | 4 Pages

    Drugs are addictive substances that produce pleasant states such as euphoria or relieve distress. Drugs are classified into categories which include: depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens. Depending on the type of drug and the way it is used, referring to if it is sniffed, swallowed, injected, or smoked depends the effect the addiction of that drug has on the body. Scientists such as Koob and Le Moal argue that drug addiction is caused by the dysregulation of the reward mechanism and subsequent allostasis which is the ability to achieve stability through change (Cami and Farre, 2003). Drug addiction produces adaptive changes in the central nervous

    Read More

  • Nature and Nurture

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    Classical conditioning refers to a type of learning in which a previously neutral stimuli took on the ability to stimulate a conditioned response in an individual (Gormezano & Moore, 1966). To prove that environment was more impactful than genetics, Watson conducted an experiment on an infant, little Albert. Initially, Albert showed little fear towards rats. When Watson repeatedly exposed Albert to the rat accompanied by a loud noise, the latter began to develop fear towards not just the rat but also other furry animals. Watson successfully showed that the acquisition of a phobia can be explained by classical conditioning (Watson & Watson, 1921). Regardless of their genes, the associations of the right stimuli can result in the development of a new behaviour in any individual.

    Read More

  • Behaviorism Essay

    1925 Words  | 4 Pages

    Watson conducted two very famous experiments with Little Albert and with Peter and the Rabbit. The Little Albert experiment consisted of showing little Albert a white rat. When little Albert reached for the rat, a steel bar behind him crated a loud noise every time Albert reached to touch the mouse. After repeating the procedure various times, little Albert, who was first drawn to the rat, was now frightened of the rat. After the experiment was done Albert’s fear became generalized to other furry objects, such a fur coat, a Santa Claus mask, rabbits etc. Therefore, Watson was able to conclude that experience readjusted the stimuli that can ca...

    Read More

  • Cognitive Dissonance

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    Berkowitz, L. & Cotton, J. (1984). Cognitive Dissonance in Selective Exposure. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 17, 357-373.

    Read More

More about DRR

Open Document