PSYC 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Parental Investment, Skull, Physical Attractiveness
19 Oct 2016
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PSYC 1010 – Lecture 5
Psychoactive Drugs
Chemicals introduced into the body which alter perceptions, moods and other elements of
conscious experience
Continued use may lead to addiction–despite adverse consequences, there is a compulsive craving
of drugs or behaviours
Tolerance: with repeated use, the desired affect requires a larger dosage (becoming more tolerant to
drug)
Decrease in responsivity to drug, body attempts to maintain homoeostasis
Diminished psychoactive effects after repeated use
o Addiction: tolerance feeds addiction because users take increasing amounts of a drug to get
the desired effect
Compensatory responses
Physiological reactions opposite to that of the drug
This is the brain trying to adjust to body imbalances
Examples: stimulants will act in the opposite way and slow you down
Withdrawal
What: Distress that follow discontinuing an addictive drug or behaviour
Withdrawal worsens addiction: users want to resume taking the drug to end the withdrawal
symptoms
Distress experienced when the high subsides
Example: if a heavy coffee user stops drinking coffee for a while = they may experience headaches
Physical Dependence (body)
Psychological Dependence (mind)
Body altered
Person's resource for coping with daily life wither as drug
becomes needed
When drug use becomes a disorder
1. Diminished control (taken over your free will, actions are all pushed towards gaining that
substance)
2. Diminished social functioning (continues despite social issues)
3. Hazardous use (despite physical/psychological issues, you continue it)
4. Drug action (experience tolerance and withdrawal)
Addiction: a compulsive craving of drugs or behaviours despite adverse consequences
Concept of addiction: extended to cover many behaviours, degree and scope debated
Addiction as disease needing treatment
o Offered for many driven, excessive behaviours that have become compulsive and
dysfunctional
Why do people smoke?
Influenced by peers, culture, media
Continuing: positively reinforced by physically stimulating effects
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Why it's so addictive: not the drug itself that is reinforcing, cues (everything associated with it–
peers, seeing it) amplify the power of it
o When you see it, you will feel like you need it again
Have difficulty stopping because of withdrawal (insomnia, anxiety, distractibility and irritability)
Physiological effects of smoking
o Blood not carrying as much oxygen
o Increased heart rate and blood pressure (stimulant)
o May reduce stress
o Reaches the brain twice as fast as heroin
o Will take away your appetite for carbs
What influences drug use?
Biological
o Genetic predispositions
o Variations in the neurotransmitter systems
Socio-cultural influences
o Urban environment
o Cultural attitude towards drug use
o Peers
If friends do not smoke, person usually will not
Psychological
o Lacking sense of purpose
o Stress
o Disorders such as depression
Controversies Related to Addiction
Should it be avoided at all costs?
o Only 10-16 percent who try drugs become addicted
Does recovery require therapy?
o Recovery rates do not differ much from people quitting on their own
Can addiction be applied to repeated behaviours that do not involve ingesting chemicals?
o May be seen as an excuse
o However, dopamine looks the same in both addictions
Chromosomes and Inheritance
Human genome has 46 chromosomes in 23 matched sets, each chromosomes has the same gene
locations
Genome
Organism's entire collection of genes
Human genomes are so nearly identical, so identical that we can speak of one universal genome
How Genes Work
Genes are molecules
o Molecules have the ability to direct assembly of proteins that build the body
Genetic protein assembly can be turned off and on by the environment
Any trait we see is a result of the complex interactions of many genes and countless other
molecules
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find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Chemicals introduced into the body which alter perceptions, moods and other elements of conscious experience. Continued use may lead to addiction despite adverse consequences, there is a compulsive craving of drugs or behaviours. Tolerance: with repeated use, the desired affect requires a larger dosage (becoming more tolerant to drug) Decrease in responsivity to drug, body attempts to maintain homoeostasis. Diminished psychoactive effects after repeated use: addiction: tolerance feeds addiction because users take increasing amounts of a drug to get the desired effect. Physiological reactions opposite to that of the drug. This is the brain trying to adjust to body imbalances. Examples: stimulants will act in the opposite way and slow you down. What: distress that follow discontinuing an addictive drug or behaviour. Withdrawal worsens addiction: users want to resume taking the drug to end the withdrawal symptoms. Example: if a heavy coffee user stops drinking coffee for a while = they may experience headaches.
