Addiction | AQA A-Level Psychology (7182)

Addiction

83 questions
5 subtopics
Paper 3: Issues and options in psychology
Paper 3

Addiction is an optional topic for Paper 3.

It covers what addiction is and how it is described, the factors that make some people more vulnerable to it, the interventions used to reduce it, and two models of how behaviour change happens.

Sample questions from Addiction

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Describing addiction

How does physical dependence differ from psychological dependence in terms of what each involves?

Show the answer
Physical dependence involves physiological adaptation to a substance, whereas psychological dependence involves emotional or mental reliance on the rewarding effects of a substance or behaviour.
Describing addiction

Give examples of physical effects that can occur during withdrawal.

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Tremors, sweating, and nausea.
Risk factors in the development of addiction

How does high psychoticism increase addiction risk?

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Individuals high in psychoticism tend to be impulsive and sensation-seeking, making them more likely to engage in risky addictive behaviours.
Risk factors in the development of addiction

Explain the two mechanisms through which parental substance use increases addiction risk in offspring.

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Genetic transmission passes on biological vulnerability, while social learning means children observe and imitate parental substance use behaviours.
Reducing addiction

What role do alternative coping strategies play in CBT for addiction?

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They are developed to replace the maladaptive cognitions and provide healthier ways of dealing with triggers and cravings.
Reducing addiction

What is the focus of the maintenance stage in Prochaska's model?

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Sustaining the behaviour change achieved during the action stage and preventing relapse.
Prochaska's six-stage model of behaviour change

How would you recognise that someone has reached the action stage?

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They are making observable changes to their behaviour and actively working to overcome the addiction.
Prochaska's six-stage model of behaviour change

What should interventions focus on during the contemplation stage?

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Helping the individual weigh up the pros and cons of changing and resolve ambivalence about change.

The 5 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Describing addiction	Physical and psychological dependence, tolerance, and the withdrawal syndrome with its effects.	10
Risk factors in the development of addiction	Genetic vulnerability and the twin evidence for it, the personality dimensions linked to addiction, and impulsivity and sensation-seeking as risk traits.	22
Reducing addiction	Drug therapy, aversion therapy and covert sensitisation, and the components of cognitive behaviour therapy for addiction.	19
Prochaska's six-stage model of behaviour change	The six stages of the model in order, what distinguishes the early stages from the later ones, and why the model is described as cyclical.	21
Theory of planned behaviour as applied to reducing addiction	The three components that shape behavioural intention, and the strengths and limitations of the theory as applied to addiction.	11

Addiction is 83 of the 2,999 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.