Julian has been smoking high-strength, hand-rolled cigarettes for several years. Both his father and older brother are also heavy smokers who have repeatedly tried and failed to quit. When Julian takes his first drag of a cigarette in the morning, he immediately experiences an intense sense of calm, followed by a sharp increase in focus and alertness.
Although Julian initially only smoked occasionally when socializing on weekends, he now finds himself smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day. If he goes more than a couple of hours without a cigarette, he suffers from severe irritability, headaches, and an overwhelming craving to smoke, which vanish almost immediately after his next cigarette.
To what extent can biological explanations account for Julian's nicotine addiction?
You must make reference to the context in your answer.
Practise Edexcel A Level Psychology Content with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 1,059 questions covering Biological explanations of crime, Social explanations of crime, Cognitive and ethical interview techniques, Psychological formulation of offending, Cognitive-behavioural treatment for offenders, Biological treatment for offenders, Factors influencing eye-witness testimony, Factors influencing jury decision-making, Individual differences, and Developmental psychology, matched to the Edexcel A Level Psychology (9PS0) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.
