Addiction

Addiction involves the body and mind becoming reliant on a substance or behaviour. Four key features describe it: physic

Addiction

Addiction

Some people are more likely to develop an addiction than others. Five key risk factors increase that likelihood: genes,

Addiction

Addiction

Nicotine triggers the release of dopamine, a brain chemical that produces feelings of pleasure. The brain learns to crav

Addiction

Addiction

Learning theory explains how people become addicted to smoking through reward and association. Certain sights, smells, o

Addiction

Addiction

Learning theory explains gambling addiction through conditioning. Gamblers learn to repeat gambling because winning feel

Addiction

Addiction

Gambling keeps people hooked because wins are unpredictable. Rewards that arrive randomly — not every time — make behavi

Addiction

Addiction

Cognitive theory explains gambling addiction through faulty thinking patterns called cognitive biases. These biases caus

Addiction

Addiction

Drug therapy uses prescribed medication to reduce or stop addictive behaviour. Drugs either replace the addictive substa

Addiction

Addiction

Aversion therapy and covert sensitisation are treatments that pair an addictive behaviour with something unpleasant. Thi

Addiction

Addiction

CBT is a talking therapy that helps people with addiction spot and change the faulty thoughts that drive their addictive

Addiction

Addiction

The theory of planned behaviour says three things shape whether someone intends to act: their own attitude, what others

Addiction

Addiction

Prochaska's model describes six stages a person moves through when giving up an addiction. People can move forward, stal

Addiction

Aggression

Certain brain structures and body chemicals influence how aggressively a person behaves. The limbic system, the hormone

Aggression

Aggression

Some genes may make a person more likely to behave aggressively. The MAOA gene controls a brain chemical linked to aggre

Aggression

Aggression

Ethologists argue that animals, including humans, are born with automatic aggressive responses. A specific trigger in th

Aggression

Aggression

Evolutionary explanations argue that humans evolved aggressive behaviours because those behaviours helped our ancestors

Aggression

Aggression

The frustration-aggression hypothesis proposes that aggression always results from frustration. Frustration occurs whene

Aggression

Aggression

Social learning theory says people learn to be aggressive by watching others and copying them. A child who sees aggressi

Aggression

Aggression

De-individuation happens when people lose their sense of personal identity in a crowd or online. This loss of identity r

Aggression

Aggression

Psychologists disagree about why violence occurs in prisons. Some blame the personalities inmates bring with them. Other

Aggression

Aggression

Watching or playing violent media can make people behave more aggressively. Researchers study whether violent computer g

Aggression

Aggression

Watching violent media can make aggression feel normal, lower your resistance to acting aggressively, and put aggressive

Aggression

Attachment

Caregivers and babies communicate through two patterns of behaviour. Each takes turns responding to the other (reciproci

Attachment

Attachment

Schaffer identified four stages that babies pass through as they form emotional bonds with caregivers. Each stage brings

Attachment

Attachment

Babies form emotional bonds with several caregivers, not just one. Fathers can play a distinct role in a child's develop

Attachment

Attachment

Lorenz and Harlow used animals to study how young creatures form close bonds. Their findings helped psychologists unders

Attachment

Attachment

Two theories explain why babies form attachments. Learning theory says babies attach to whoever feeds them. Bowlby's mon

Attachment

Attachment

Bowlby argued that babies must form an attachment within a fixed time window. That early bond then creates a mental temp

Attachment

Attachment

Mary Ainsworth designed a controlled observation called the Strange Situation. It measures the strength and type of atta

Attachment

Attachment

Psychologists classify the bond between a child and their caregiver into three types. Each type describes how the child

Attachment

Attachment

Researchers have tested attachment types across many countries. They find secure attachment is most common everywhere, b

Attachment

Attachment

Bowlby argued that separating a child from their main caregiver during early childhood causes permanent damage to the ch

Attachment

Attachment

Studies of Romanian orphans show how growing up in a care institution, without a consistent caregiver, causes lasting da

Attachment

Attachment

Your first attachment relationship acts as a mental template. It shapes how you behave in friendships, romantic relation

Attachment