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Essay / The Effectiveness of Incentive Salience Theory in the Treatment of Drug Addicts Human beings are rational organisms of society. This means that the decisions they make are logical and rational in nature. It is this characteristic and uniqueness of the human species that distinguishes them from other living species in the community. Rationality refers to that mental state in which living organisms attempt to judge a particular situation presented to them and make decisions that are most likely to help them resolve the problem. There is no impact on emotions in such cases of rationalization and logical argumentation. It is important to understand that the level of rationalization present in a particular individual depends on the level of his or her cognitive development. However, it is often observed that many individuals in society fail to rationalize their decisions or judgments. Such situations can arise for various reasons and are particularly visible in cases of dependence that the person concerned may experience. Addiction plays a vital role in determining a person's life choices. When a person suffers from addiction, they often fail to rationalize the decisions made when the issue of addiction comes into play. As a result, during these periods, the affected human beings lose their sense of judgment and their special characterization that makes of them above all human beings. In this context, a person's psychology can be analyzed and examined in a relevant way (Hickey & Peelen, 2015). The purpose of this essay is to understand the theory of incentive salience where a person's behavior is judged and analyzed in cases of addiction. Additionally, the essay also provides evidence for this theory in order to validate the findings of the theory. The essay ends with a discussion on the effectiveness of the theory, that is, whether it can lead to the effective treatment of addiction experienced by different human beings in society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Meaning of Addiction It is often observed that human beings in society are addicted to a particular substance. Addiction refers to the state in which an individual feels unable to function effectively without relying on the substance to which they are addicted. This is important as the substances an individual is addicted to have the potential to destroy the lives of those involved. The different substances that a person can typically become addicted to include alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and drugs of all kinds. All of these substances have the ability to inhibit the rational side of a person, so much so that they can no longer think logically about their life decisions. They become addicted to such diverse substances and have the idea that without these substances it would be very difficult for them to live. It is in this state of thinking that a person faces addiction. There are a number of reasons that lead to addiction in a person. One of the main reasons for the emergence of addiction in people is monetary problems (Shamay-Tsoory & Abu-Akel, 2016). It is often observed that people face the problem of lack of money and they do not have enough money to enjoy a higher standard of living. This has serious consequenceson the lives of those affected, as they often feel helpless and frustrated. As a result, they resort to various substances that could help them overcome the pain they feel. In this regard, the issue of addiction comes into play as people become dependent on these substances. Another reason that can lead a person to addiction is personal relationship problems. Such problems can occur in the families of those affected or among their loved ones. These problems often create mental stress in people's minds. They are unable to cope with such stress and therefore want to find ways to not have to deal with their thought processes. In such a situation, one can see that these affected people try to find relief from several other sources which have the power to make them forget their feelings for a short period of time. These substances can again be addictive if misused by those affected. In this regard, it can be argued that these people become addicted to substances due to their feelings. From the analysis of these two situations, it can be observed that people often become addicted when they face certain problems and problems in their life which they cannot cope with in a healthy way. When they do not have a solution to their problems, people try to take support and help from these substances which have the ability to numb their feelings for a considerable period of time so that they do not have not to face their problems or be mentally stressed. In such circumstances, it can be seen that they start abusing certain substances which have the power to interfere with their cognitive thinking ability. Such substances become addictive substances due to the fact that they have been misused by the people concerned. It is such misuse of products that leads a person to become addicted to that particular product. Incentive salience theoryAddiction is the result of excessive desire for a particular substance. The different reasons mentioned above lead a person to be heavily addicted to the consumption of a particular substance which affects the cognitive thinking ability of the individual (Beckmann & Chow, 2015). This is important as these substances can potentially impair the work efficiency of the person concerned. It is the result of the numbness felt in the person's cognitive functioning. The decision-making power of the individual is affected and he begins to lose his ability to think and function effectively. Thus, it is understood that different addictive substances are capable of inhibiting the thought process of an individual. They can no longer rationalize their decisions and therefore cannot think in logical terms (Ito, Ida & Tanaka, 2018). This not only reduces their work capacity, but also begins to negatively impact their life opportunities. Additionally, the problems they initially faced begin to worsen as they no longer have the ability to think logically that would have helped them find a meaningful solution to the situation. There is therefore an imminent need to control the situation. habit of dependence experienced by members of society. They must be able to control their emotions and life opportunities. In order to control addiction among the population, various psychological ideas and theories exist (Bickel et al., 2018). The branch of psychology tries to understand human behavior so that different people engaged in this field can provide bettersolutions for people facing certain life crises. Addiction is one of the most critical crises an individual can face during their lifetime. In order to address this level of addiction, it is necessary for psychologists to address the root cause of the problem. In this regard, the theory of incentive salience was formulated. Incentive salience theory emphasizes that addiction arises in an individual due to their excessive desire for a particular substance or product. Therefore, there is a need for psychologists or doctors to to reduce a person's need for such a substance. This is done with the help of motivation. This theory attempts to motivate people so that they are able to control their addiction to the extent that it would not pose many problems to the affected person's life choices. Incentive salience theory is meaningful in nature because it attempts to address the behavior of the person itself. The problem of addiction can be analyzed as being rooted in an individual's behavior. If this problem is addressed thoroughly, then there is a chance that the person's addiction problem will be resolved to a large extent. Incentive salience theory attempts to motivate individuals so that they can be influenced to give up their addiction (Berridge, 2017). In other words, incentive salience theory attempts to appeal to the very soul of each individual. Additionally, it also attempts to appeal to the cognitive level of the person. The level of cognitive thinking that can be observed in an individual is partly the result of the various experiences that he or she may have had during his or her life. All of these experiences bring important life lessons to the person through morals and ethics. The characteristic trait of each individual is their ability to rationalize the decisions and judgments they make. This is negatively influenced by the different substances a person is addicted to. Proof of Incentive Salience Theory The effectiveness of incentive salience theory has been sought to prove in various circumstances. One of the experiments carried out concerned the case of administering a drug called amphetamine to affected humans (Ostafin & Feyel, 2019). This is done with the aim of making an individual aware of a particular activity. For example, responses to blinking. This is of particular importance to drug addicts in society. An addict's attention span relies on the visual representation of the drug in front of them. This acts as a signal to addicts who feel the urge to consume the drug in front of them. This experiment proved that it is the person's behavior that must be changed over time. If the behavior of the person concerned is properly taken into account, their desire to use drugs is significantly affected. Thanks to the theory of incentive salience, we seek to modify the actions of individuals by motivating them not to consume such drugs. The motivator affects the cognitive thought process of the person. This means that psychologists strive to influence the psychology of the person. We seek to reform the basic behavior of the individual using the theory of incentive salience. The effectiveness of incentive salience theory and its implications The effectiveness of incentive salience theory can be judged from the various successes this theory has had on humans. civilization. Different psychologists have attempted to influence the behavior of individuals suffering from addiction. The theory of incentive salience is aimed atpeople who suffer from addiction to various substances and become dependent on these substances for personal reasons. In this regard, it is seen that the incentive salience theory attempts to influence vulnerable people with an element of motivation. Motivation is a psychological concept by which one seeks to reform a person's mind in a particular direction. It is the subconscious of the individual that is influenced by motivation. Thus, we can observe that we are trying to change the psychology of a person. This helps bring about a change in their addictive behavior. Thus, the theory of incentive salience can be considered to be effective in treating different cases of addiction. This is because addiction to a particular substance depends on the mental configuration of the person in question. If he decides to become addicted to the substance, then there is a very less chance that he will follow any other thought process. In this regard, the importance of the individual's cognitive development process comes into consideration. A person's cognitive development results from the various experiences to which they are subjected during their life. Moreover, it is also the result of the knowledge that one imbibes throughout the different stages of life development. The combination of these two helps a person to judge a particular situation effectively and make a decision considered most appropriate in the circumstances. This also applies to times when a person faces problems. In this regard, it can be said that if the person has an effective level of cognitive development, then he will be able to judge a situation more rationally and logically and find the appropriate solution based on time. However, if there is poor cognitive development of the person, then he will not be able to take the appropriate decision to resolve the situation effectively. This further affects the life choices of individuals. Thus, it is necessary to strongly develop the cognitive thinking ability of a person so that he or she can overcome the various obstacles and obstacles in life. If this does not happen, it is likely that the individual will succumb to addiction every time they face a problem in life. In order to prevent this from happening, incentive salience theory is used. According to this theory, individuals who suffer from addiction receive some type of reward and recognition if they demonstrate attitudes that prove they have been able to reduce their drug use. This is important because it attempts to influence people regarding their subconscious nature. If the subconscious factor of an individual is tapped appropriately, there is a good chance that he will change his behavior. This contrasts with attempts to change a person's behavior externally. During these times, it is found that affected individuals often show restraint when they realize that someone is intentionally trying to change their behavior. This is because during these periods they feel the loss of their own character at the hands of another. Every individual wants to be responsible for their own destiny and thought process, even in times of crisis. As soon as they begin to sense that another individual is trying to change their behavior and self, they begin to put up resistance to this effect. This is important to understand because incentive salience theory attempts to change a person's behavior without making them aware of it. Here the element of motivation comes into play. Thus, it can be stated that the theory of incentive salience is capable of changing habits..
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