Psychology 2020A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Chemical Substance, Antihistamine, Caffeine
22 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
May 15, 2018
Psychology 2020
Introductory Concepts
Lecture 1
Chapter 1
What are Drugs?
- A chemical substance that, when taken into the body, alters the structure or functioning of the
body in some way
- This definition is very broad (can be used for other things as well – like vitamins, nutrients,
foods etc)
- So we say it has to exclude those nutrients considered to be related to normal functioning
Two Key Lessons
1. There is probably no perfect definition that would distinguish drugs from non drugs without
leaving a number of cases that fall within some kind of gray area
2. We often draw the distinction not in terms of physical characteristics but in terms of whether
the substance in question has been intended to be used primarily as a way of inducing a bodily
or psychological change
o So when categorizing drugs, people look at the motivation behind WHY people are
taking the drug
o To heal themselves physically?
o To make themselves more confident?
o This is how you distinuguish one drug from another – the motivation behind taking the
drug
What is society’s opinion on drugs?
- when people think about drugs, they automatically think about hard addictive drugs →drugs are
BAD
- but as a society, we get MIXED messages
o there are beer commercials that are advertising alcohol
o the message often portrayed in beer commercials is that:
▪ beer is a good way to socialize
▪ beer is a good refreshing treat to have
▪ certain personality traits in people who drink beer
▪ increases confidence
▪ increases attractiveness
▪ the beer commercials are youth focused and sexist
- so on the one hand, they say that drugs are bad but on the other hand, they are telling young
people that if you want to socialize and have a good time you need to drink alcohol
o this makes people think that alcohol is not a drug (or it’s a diff type of drug)
- government makes a lot of money on these things
- its not just alcohol
o cigarettes
- so society focuses on youth (especially women)
- they are focused on youth bc they want to get you hooked early when you are in a mindset of
experimenting so you can become addicted and attached
Social Messages about Drug Use
- Beer commercials on television constitute popular forms of entertainment as well as effective
marketing tools, despite the fact that alcohol abuse and alcoholism continue to present serious
personal and societal problems.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
A chemical substance that, when taken into the body, alters the structure or functioning of the. This definition is very broad (can be used for other things as well like vitamins, nutrients, foods etc) So we say it has to exclude those nutrients considered to be related to normal functioning. When people think about drugs, they automatically think about hard addictive drugs drugs are. Beer commercials on television constitute popular forms of entertainment as well as effective marketing tools, despite the fact that alcohol abuse and alcoholism continue to present serious personal and societal problems. No. although prescription drugs are advertised on tv all the time, they are still some that are addicting and bad for you so bc they are advertised, people as a society think that these are good and healing. People start self diagnosing and taking pills themselves.
