Several mechanisms for psychological etiology have been proposed, including theories based on stress, Pavlovian conditioning, or misdiagnoses of an underlying mental illness.
Studies considered the effects of stress on both intrinsic and extrinsic memory functions, using for both of them Pavlovian conditioning and spatial learning.
These behaviors can be explained by the "incentive sensitisation" theory of addiction, in which constant drug use elicits drug-seeking behaviors due to associative learning processes which occur through Pavlovian conditioning.
Specific topics in the field of psychology include clinical psychology, cognition, abnormal psychology, evolutionary psychology, gambling addiction, Pavlovian conditioning and family therapy.