Impulse control disorders: explanations

Psychology A2 · Clinical Psychology. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

Three explanations are needed. The biological one is about dopamine, the chemical of the brain's reward pathway. Gambling or stealing triggers dopamine release and a feeling of pleasure, so the urge to repeat it is strong. Some people may have a reward system that reacts abnormally.

The behavioural one is positive reinforcement: the act is followed by a reward (a win, a thrill), so it is repeated. Rewards that come unpredictably make the habit very hard to break.

Miller's feeling-state theory is cognitive. An intense positive feeling, such as 'I am a winner', becomes fixed to the behaviour. The person then repeats the behaviour to get that feeling back, often because of an underlying negative belief about themselves.

Rules to remember

Dopamine explanation: the behaviour activates the reward pathway; evidence comes from Parkinson's patients on dopamine-boosting drugs who develop gambling problems.
Positive reinforcement: a behaviour followed by a pleasant consequence is more likely to be repeated.
Variable ratio schedule: reward after an unpredictable number of responses; gives behaviour that is very resistant to extinction.
Feeling-state: the linked memory of the behaviour, the intense positive emotion and the body sensations felt at the time.
Dopamine is a nature, reductionist explanation; reinforcement is a nurture, situational explanation.
Neither dopamine nor reinforcement alone explains why only some people who gamble develop a disorder.

Common mistake

Students call the relief from tension 'positive reinforcement'. Positive reinforcement is gaining something pleasant (a win, excitement); removing something unpleasant is negative reinforcement.

Worked example

Tariq feels ignored at work. The first time he won at a casino, people cheered and he felt important. Now he gambles whenever he feels small. Which explanation fits best?

The focus is on a strong positive feeling ('I am important') that he first had during gambling.
That feeling has become linked to the act of gambling, forming a feeling-state.
He gambles to get the feeling back when he holds the opposite belief about himself, which is a cognitive account.

Answer: Miller's feeling-state theory.

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