Learning & Cognitive Models of Addiction

While biological models explain addiction in terms of brain chemistry and genetics, learning models explain how addiction develops and is maintained through conditioning and social learning, and cognitive models explain how thought patterns, beliefs, and cognitive biases sustain addictive behaviour. These psychological models complement biological explanations and are particularly important for understanding how treatment (especially CBT) works.

Key Definition: Cue reactivity is the phenomenon whereby environmental cues that have been repeatedly associated with substance use (through classical conditioning) trigger craving and physiological responses even in the absence of the substance itself.

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Classical Conditioning and Cue Reactivity

How Classical Conditioning Applies to Addiction

Through repeated pairing, previously neutral stimuli in the environment become conditioned stimuli that trigger craving and physiological responses: