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POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

Positive Reinforcement:
How Pavlov Application Explains
The Drug Addiction Phenomena
Alani Richardson
Old Dominion University

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Abstract
This research examined exactly how classical conditioning annotates the
basic drug addiction development through experiences of the high,
tolerance, withdrawal and relapse. Analysis of tolerance and withdrawal are
assessed and ultimately put into question in order to research different drug
treatments that are available in the medical and psychological world. Testing
on animals elude to the actual effects that drug addiction and withdrawal
may have on a human user. Although there is no cure for drug addiction, but
treatments and new research are helping to offset and maybe even find a
cure for the classically conditioned disease.

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Positive Reinforcement
How Pavlov Applications Explain Drug Addiction
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration stated that
23.5 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or
alcohol abuse problem in 2009 (NIDA, 2011). This clinical issue results in the
detriment of the economy, downfall of domestic activity and more
importantly it plays a strong role in the mortality rate of those who function
as chattel or a buff of highly addictive drugs. Drug addiction has come with a
strong problematic and societal cost yet regardless of the stark reality given,
what is the root of the problem? How do people build tolerance and become
addicted to drugs physically and mentally? Ultimately, is drug addiction able
to be successfully cured?
Literature Review
One recent analysis of the detailed process of drug addiction outlines
three ideas of why people become addicted to drugs: the disease model, the
physical dependency model and the positive reinforcement model (Kenyon,
2006).
With the stamp of approval from the World Health Organization, alcohol
has been officially labeled as a disease. The American Heritage Stedmans
Medical Dictionary defines disease as a pathological condition of a body

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part, an organ, or a system resulting from various causes, such as

environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or
symptoms (2001). This description of diseases in light of drugs implies that
addiction is a treatable and curable configuration. Along with Kenyons
supported theory of disease, physical dependency is also associated in his
theory of why people become addicted to drugs. In conjunction with Kenyon,
Cardinal et al. (2004) delves through the ins and outs of the physical
elements of drug addiction by juxtaposing human physical addiction
alongside the addiction in animals when conditioning with food or any other
positive reinforcement. The nucleus accumbens is the focus of their analysis
(Cardinal et al., 2004) in junction with dopamine receptors and
neurotransmitters react to reinforcement which indicates learning or elicits
the behavior of addiction in our case.
The physical aspect of the three steps is often linked with the
withdrawal symptoms or the failure to take drugs producing strong cravings
for the drug and other feelings of discomfort (Chance, 2014). In order
contract feelings of withdrawal one will use aversive stimuli, formally known
as negative reinforcement. Chance (2014) describes negative reinforcement
as the decrease or removal of the stimulus intensity. This is usually allied
with the process when someone is going cold turkey in attempt to remove
the consumption of a drug from their activities.

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The last of the three factors of drug addiction and the one that will be
assessed the most from the Pavlovian perspective is that of the positive
reinforcement model. Positive reinforcement is when a stimulus is presented,
and following the stimulus a behavior is made which results in learned
behavior (Chance, 2014). After assessing this definition, it is clear that drug
usage acts as a positive reinforcer to those who take it. After consuming a
substance, one learns to continue to conduct the same action over and over
again to acquire their reward, more plainly known as a high. This is a classic
demonstration of Ivan Pavlovs system of classical conditioning.
Along with this conditioning comes the idea of tolerance. Tolerance is
when the amount of drug taken must be increased in order to produce the
same high or feeling of euphoria that was felt at the time of ones first
consumption (Stewart et. al, 1993).Therefore, instead of conducting and
experiment from scratch, we will be analyzing an experiment conducted by
Shepard Siegal et. al (1982) who delves into the idea of tolerance and how
exactly it is effective to the learning or addiction to a particular drug. Before
analyzing this work, I am positive that with the increase of tolerance comes
the positive correlation of addiction and withdrawal symptoms which is the
basis of which this learning will be done.
Participants in the Seigal experiment included 29 male 90-110 day old
rats that had and had not experienced any other conditioning or
experimental learning. Rats that were not as young or were part of any

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previous experiment were included and split into groups. These rats were
derived from Wistar and were from Quebec Breeding Farms, St. Constant,
Quebec, Canada. Water and food was provided to all rats and was available
at all times at expense of the participant. Each rat was in one of three
groups: a group who had never received a heroin dosage before, those who
had experience dosages but experienced them again in a brand new setting
and lastly those who received their dosages in the same area that they had
received previously.
The first of the three groups of rats were injected with 5 mg/kg of
heroin (morphine sulfate) but in order for the morphine to be released, they
were required to press a lever of which acted as a conditioned stimulus,
wherein they were rewarded with the dosage each time that the lever was
pressed. The second group presented was given the 5mg/kg morphine
dosages without having to press a lever while the last group was only given
saline solution as a control group to compare to that of the other groups.
The dosage results for the rats that were experiencing heroine dosages
for the first time proved deadly for 96% of rats while 32% of these rats died
(Chance, 2014). This finding proves that tolerance is provided in dosages and
the more one is exposed to a drug, the less detrimental the same dosage is
for them. The most intriguing part came into play when Seigal gave the
results of the withdrawal symptoms. The symptoms of aggression matched
that of the amount of aggression that they gave in order to receive the

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stimulus. For example, if the rat had to press the lever in order to receive
their 5mg/kg dosage, their withdrawal symptoms were 70-80 times more
aggressive than that of the rats who simply received their dosage with no
conditioning when measuring behavior such as rearing, teeth chatter,
mouthing, head shakes, body shakes, paw tremors and ear wipes.
This experiment was a perfect example of an experiment that adopted
all of Pavlovs principles and resulted in a success of learning. Relating this to
the human drug addict, the hypothesis of building tolerance with the
increase amount of drugs taken was shown to be true. Also when looking at
the factors of withdrawal, the human withdrawal process mirrors that which
was seen in the behavior of the rats. Another experiment which shows the
same result was given to a monkey over the time span of 25 weeks Deneu
et. al, (1969). The monkeys tolerance to the drug rapidly arose around week
15 of the experiment (see Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Notes: Adapted from The University of Plymouth Department of

Psychology, by P. Kenyon, 2006, Web.

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In the light of reversing addiction, there are so many rehab centers and
12-step programs, but being that the actual habit is that of a Pavlovian
phenomenon, the best way to break classical conditioning is through the
mold of aversive conditioning or negative reinforcement. We have already
stated that negative reinforcement goes hand in hand with that of cold
turkey and aggressive withdrawal symptoms. Sure, this may work, but the
most viable option would be through aversive conditioning. Aversive
conditioning is the pairing of a stimulus with that of the conditioned stimulus
to turn the user away from the drug because it gives and unpleasant
experience. A study done by Cappell et. al (1973) explores the idea of taste
aversion in the light of drug use. Results from the study showed that
behavior was dismissed due to the negative feelings and emotions attached
to the drug at that point. An example of taste aversion would be that if every
time a subject drank liquor and they were subjected to the fumes of manure,
they would soon associate drinking not only with the euphoria of being
high/drunk, but they will now have paired the conditioned stimulus of
manure aromas to drinking alcohol. Another study like this and the one
described above with lab rats was done conducted by Mucha et. al in 2003.
In this experiment, the rats received morphine and with this addiction of 0.815 mg/kg of morphine sulfate, the rats were soon provided with an aversion
of naloxone. With the administration of the aversion, the rate of rats
consuming morphine declined rapidly through the reinforcement of taste
aversion.

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This once, again reinforces the idea stated above that addiction to
drugs can be cured through simple aversions or even absence of the
stimulus (Macrae et al 1997). This experiment resulted in the absence of the
stimulus, but the process up until the stimulus is usually presented was still
shown. The subject who is a heavy drinker described in the example used
above still goes through the motions of drinking, maybe playing the music
that they are accustomed to or being in the same party environment that
they may drink heavily in, yet there is no alcohol presented to the
participant. This theory is entitled that of extinction and although it does
prose high risks when attempting to execute them in a lab environment, this
still proved as a viable option concluding the McRae experiment.
New research within the scholarly world shows that ways to combat
drug addiction is being explored through the world of virtual reality. One new
study done by Bordnick et.al (2004) triggers the craving of nicotine. This
pilot study or the first of its kind evoked strong discussion the stimuli
exposure. This study showed that when one was presented with prompts or
mnemonics that reminded them of smoking, nicotine usage was higher than
that of someone who had been near anything that smoking-related at all.
When in a setting of a social interaction, nicotine usage was also higher due
to the idea that if everyone around is smoking, the subject should also
participate.

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Another study was done using virtual reality in the light of individuals
who are dependent on cocaine (Saladin et. al, 2006). This, similar to that of
the nicotine usage experiment, asses cocaine addicts participation in
participating in using especially if they are present in an environment of
cocaine users. The hypothesis proved correct scene interactions with cocaine
dealers and heavy interaction with those who were avid cocaine users
proved to have a strong effect, distracting the subject from relaxing and
focusing on the decision that they were about to make. In the scene where
subjects were prepped with the relax scene before they were placed into a
cocaine-present environment, less choices to take drugs were prominent,
resulting in a trend that matched the hypothesis.
Virtual testing saves and abundance of money compared to that of lab
experiments and it gives scientists the opportunity to conduct more ideas
that they may have easily and on-site than that of having to go out and
conduct a field experiment. Although it does have perquisites, there are still
some limitations that are presented such as reality and if the program would
actually have the same effect on all humans (Bordnick et.al 2004). Humans
are very different and different factors that are not present in virtual labs
could present themselves when actually diagnosing or conducting the
conclusion that the experiment.
Another treatment for drug addiction is drug replacement therapy
where drugs block the targeted drug from producing a high. There are

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receptors in the brain that have a response to every drug that can be taken.
Drug replacement therapy works by blocking the open receptors to whatever
neurotransmitter works to transfer the drug into the receptors. For example,
caffeine may inhibit excitatory GABA receptors, but with drugs that block the
transition or have an opposite effect on the subject than that of the caffeine
that was consumed.
Drug addiction has no full blown cure, but it is treatable. In 2013, the
FDA approved a new treatment for opioids by combining buprenorphine, an
opioid receptor modulator and naloxone, the aversive treatment used for the
rats in the above described Mucha et. al experiment in 2003. This new
treatment in partnership with counseling treatments is predicted to have a
positive outlook on opioid dependents.
Most drug treatments offered work hand in hand with Pavlovian
conditioning whether it exhilarates conditional stimuli or even suppresses it,
it still works to reverse the classical conditioning of learning that we all are
so familiar with.
Discussion
Through the research conducted, it is clear that the drug habit is one
that can be broken with the assistance of much medical assistance and
counseling therapy, but the best way to treat something that has been
acquired through Pavlovs classical conditioning is to treat with aversion.
Drug addiction is a huge topic of controversy that has existed since the

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beginning of time, but it is still one that has no clear answer. In the light of
classical conditioning, withdrawals positively correlate with that of tolerance.
The higher the tolerance of a drug, the more intense the withdrawal
symptoms in a subject will be. Virtual studies also shine light on the
possibility of cures for the experiments and research to come. While saving
money, time and recourses this could be a clear gateway into the future of
medicine. Using the treatments provided, one can definitely overcome the
phenomenon of drug addiction even though there vis no clear cure that is
known to work on every subject.

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Works Cited
Disease. (n.d.). The American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary.
Retrieved April 10, 2015, from Dictionary.com
website:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/disease
Siegel, S. (1975). Evidence from Rats That Morphine Tolerance is a Learned
Response. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology,89(5),
498-506.
Kenyon, P. (2006). Theories of Drug Addiction. Retrieved April 15, 2015, from
http://www.flyfishingdevon.co.uk/salmon/year3/psy337DrugAddiction/t
heorydrugaddiction.htm.
Mucha, R., Kooy, D., Oshaughnessy, M., & Bucenieks, P. (1981). Drug
Reinforcement Studied by the Use of Place Conditioning in Rat. Brain
Research, 91-105.
Cardinal, R. (2004). Neural and Psychological Mechanisms Underlying
Appetitive Learning: Links to Drug Addiction. Current Opinion in
Neurobiology, 14, 156-162.