Addiction and Cognition

Individuals may attempt to reduce cognitive dissonance by changing their beliefs, modifying their behavior, or rationalizing their actions. The skills I developed there regarding logistics and operations, combined with my personal interactions with those in recovery and self-help, greatly helped me to make a successful transition into the drug and alcohol rehabilitation field. Since working for Elevate, I’ve continued to develop skills related to linear thinking and problem solving, which have contributed to streamlining operations and successful risk management. Additionally, I maintain strong interaction and good relationships with my employees, which has proven successful toward accomplishing company goals. Matt is credentialed as CADC-CS (Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor – Clinical Supervisor) through CCAPP (California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals). He helped create an effective, holistic alcohol & drug treatment curriculum that has been in use at Elevate Addiction Services since 2015.

Research Hypotheses and Model

People attempt to relieve this tension in different ways, such as by rejecting, explaining away, or avoiding new information. Neuroscience research with animals is elucidating how the brain constructs and Twelve-step program maintains the neural networks that support learning. One process identified, long-term potentiation (LTP), has features that parallel key aspects of learning.

1. Measurement Model Assessment

Individuals may try to convince themselves and others that they have control over their substance use or exclude themselves from the consequences of their behavior. These defense mechanisms protect their deep-rooted beliefs about themselves and substances. People often experience cognitive dissonance when their actions do not align with their beliefs or morals.

Impact of Cognitive Dissonance on Recovery

In another study, abusers of 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) continued to score relatively poorly in tests of immediate and delayed recall of spoken words even after 2.5 years of abstinence (Thomasius et al., 2006). In the study, individuals were asked to perform 30 minutes of a very boring and tedious activity. Then, they had to persuade a waiting study participant that the activity was really very interesting. This situation created cognitive dissonance in most individuals––they believed that the task was boring, yet for no good reason they had to say quite the opposite. Half of the participants were given a ready excuse for telling this lie––they would be paid $20 to tell the lie.

Dissonance Theory as Innovation

Ostensibly, the reason for making the speeches was to convince younger adolescents to use condoms. The feeling of hypocrisy was created by asking participants to recall any instances in their own recent pasts that they had failed to use condoms. In Thibodeau & Aronson’s (1992) view, this procedure established dissonance by having participants focus on the cognitive dissonance addiction discrepancy between their advocacy and their past behavior. Participants whose dissonance was created by hypocrisy increased their intention to use condoms. As an illustration of vicarious dissonance, Norton, Monin, Cooper& Hogg (2003) asked Australian students at the University of Queensland to observe a fellow student who was asked to make a strong statement taking the position that university fees should be increased.

• For example, a person may believe that drinking too much alcohol is bad, but they still continue to indulge in this behaviour.
• In one classic example from his original work, he asked what people would feel if they were out in the rain but were not getting wet.
• Transcripts were ranked by E.A.V. based on semantic richness, from Tier 1 (richest content) to Tier 3 (least rich content) 33.
• The same semi-structured interview guide was used in all interviews; however, some participants gave more detailed answers than others and provided richer data regarding their thoughts, feelings and experiences.

• Presently, we are refining CMI and have been applying this approach to additional clients and CSOs.
• As elegant as this view is, it has difficulty handling some of the caveats in the dissonance literature.
• This finding suggests that information overload may be a significant concern for platform operators, as it can result in negative user experiences and ultimately impact user retention.
• Among them are how highly a particular belief is valued and the degree to which the beliefs are inconsistent.
• Thomas has been in the Santa Cruz area his whole life and is proud to serve his community in fighting addiction one client at a time.
• The therapy itself was indeed effortful, but not in a way that participants may have anticipated.

Moreover, individuals who suffer from mental disorders abuse drugs at higher rates than the general population. In a 1986 study, smoking rates approximated 30 percent in population-based controls, 47 percent in patients with anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder, 78 percent in patients with mania, and 88 percent in patients with schizophrenia (Hughes et al., 1986). This article reviews current knowledge on the cognitive effects of drugs and their neurological underpinnings. These effects may be particularly disruptive when individuals are exposed to drugs during brain development, which lasts from the prenatal period through adolescence, and in individuals with mental disorders. An understanding of these issues will help substance abuse clinicians identify and respond to cognitive changes that affect patients’ responses to treatment.

Sometimes, the ways that people resolve cognitive dissonance contribute to unhealthy behaviors or poor decisions. To deal with the feelings of discomfort then, they might find some way of rationalizing the conflicting cognition. For instance, they may justify their sedentary behavior by saying that their other healthy behaviors—like eating sensibly and occasionally exercising—make up for their largely sedentary lifestyle. Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes.

If you know texting and driving is dangerous, for example, changing the behavior will protect you and others in the long term. On the other hand, changing your perception of the behavior by telling yourself you have enough driving experience to text and drive safely will not have the same long-term outcome. Neuroscience research has correlated learning with the elaboration of neural networks in the brain. Many experiments have established that, as learning takes place, selected neurons increase their levels of activity and form new connections, or strengthen established connections, with networks of other neurons. Moreover, experimental techniques that prevent neuronal activity and networking inhibit learning.