Behavioural Interventions
Psychology: AQA A Level, topic 17.2.2
Aversion Therapy
Behavioural intervention combines two concepts: learning theory and the biological approach.
Behavioural intervention
- Behavioural intervention combines two concepts:
- Learning theory states that addictions can be learned, so the behaviours can also be unlearned.
- The main form being aversion therapy.
- This is combined with drug therapies (biological approach) to stop the addictions.
Aversion therapy
- Aversion therapy tries to associate the addiction with unpleasant experiences.
- This causes the person to break their addiction because it is associated with negative concepts.
- For example, Antabuse® is used in the aversion therapy treatment for alcoholics.
Antabuse®
- The Antabuse® causes unpleasant symptoms when the taker also consumes alcohol.
- It works by blocking an enzyme that breaks down alcohol.
- This causes side effects such as nausea.
Association/conditioning
- The addict then pairs the nausea with the act of drinking alcohol. This works on the principle of conditioning.
- The alcoholic, because of the unpleasant symptoms, will be less likely to continue drinking.
- Even when the addict stops taking the Antabuse®, the association will remain.
Meyer and Chesser (1970)
- A study conducted by Meyer and Chesser (1970) examined the effectiveness of Antabuse® by comparing alcoholics who received the medication to a control group.
- Their results showed that there was a significant difference in the two groups.
Results
- Half of the ones (50%) receiving Antabuse® remained sober for a year which was significantly more than the control group.
- Meyer and Chesser concluded than unpleasant responses can be conditioned.
Aversion Therapy: Covert Sensitisation
Behavioural intervention combines two concepts: learning theory and the biological approach.
Covert sensitisation
- A second form of aversion therapy is called covert sensitisation.
- Covert sensitisation involves associating unpleasant experiences with the act of abusing substances.
- But the difference is that the unpleasant experiences are imagined - the person does not actually physically go through them.
Imagination
- For example, covert sensitisation used on an alcoholic would involve them imagining a terrible experience in specific detail while having alcohol cravings.
- The alcoholic would associate the horrible experience with the craving, which would lessen the likelihood of further cravings.
Kraft and Kraft (2005)
- A study by Kraft and Kraft (2005) examined how effective covert sensitisation was.
- They looked at small sample of six participants, each with different addictions:
- Nail biting, chocolate, over eating, cannabis, alcohol and cigarettes.
Kraft and Kraft (2005) results
- Their results demonstrated that all six participants had reduced addictions.
- This was after only two-four sessions.
- So the technique was effective for all forms of addiction.
Evaluation of Kraft and Kraft (2005)
- An important disadvantage is that the sample size was small.
- This means the results cannot be generalised to the whole population.
Disadvantages of Behavioural Intervention
Behavioural intervention combines two concepts: learning theory and the biological approach. There are three main disadvantages of behavioural interventions.
Time
- Aversion therapy can take a long time.
- It also relies on the addict to be committed to continuing the therapy, which is not always possible.
Commitment
- Aversion therapy with drugs such as Antabuse® rely on the addict taking the drug consistently and continually.
- Otherwise, the negative association between the side effects and alcohol may not develop.
- The addict could also simply stop taking the drug if they wanted to drink again.
Ethical issues
- There are ethical issues related to the aversion stimuli.
- For example, the horrible nausea that people must imagine during aversion therapy is not entirely ethical.
- Doctors and psychologists may not want to purposefully cause people pain.
Test yourself on Behavioural Interventions
What percentage of the alcoholics receiving Antabuse® remained sober for a year in the study by Meyer and Chesser ?
Who studied the effectiveness of covert sensitisation?
Which of these is NOT a disadvantage of aversion therapy?