How does operant conditioning explain anorexia?


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Anorexia could be explained by Operant Conditioning. When people lose weight, they are complimented (positive reinforcement) and this conditions them into losing more and more weight.

What does social learning theory say about anorexia?

Social learning theory states that we learn behaviours (including eating behaviours) by imitating successful role models. SLT states that observational learning can take place, and that this is reinforced vicariously.

What personality factors are associated with anorexia?

Individuals with anorexia nervosa are known to have high levels of harm avoidance, a personality trait that is characterized by worry, pessimistic thinking, doubt, and shyness.

What type of deviance is anorexia?

Anorexia nervosa, or purposeful starvation, embodies visual as well as behavioral deviation; bulimia, binge-eating followed by vomiting and/or laxative abuse, is primarily behaviorally deviant.

What is the purpose of operant conditioning?

Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning, is a method of learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behavior. Through operant conditioning, behavior that is rewarded is likely to be repeated, and behavior that is punished will rarely occur.

What is meant by the notion that eating behaviors are conditioned?

What is meant by the notion that eating behaviors are conditioned? Previous experiences, such as those that occur during childhood, affect our current response to food and eating behaviors.

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Vicarious reinforcement occurs when (a) an individual observes another person (a model) behave in a certain way and experience a consequence perceived as desirable by the observer, and (b) as a result, the observer behaves as the model did.

What personality trait is associated with eating disorders?

Personality traits commonly associated with eating disorder (ED) are high perfectionism, impulsivity, harm avoidance, reward dependence, sensation seeking, neuroticism, and obsessive-compulsiveness in combination with low self-directedness, assertiveness, and cooperativeness [8-11].

What personality type is most likely to have an eating disorder?

Williams, looking at 55 patients in eating disorders clinics in New York using the Myers-Briggs test found the following: INFJ (18.5%), INTJ (10.63%), and ENFJ (6.59%) were the most common personality types among the patients.

What type of person is most likely to be affected by anorexia nervosa?

Anorexia is more common in girls and women. However, boys and men have increasingly developed eating disorders, possibly related to growing social pressures. Anorexia is also more common among teenagers. Still, people of any age can develop this eating disorder, though it’s rare in those over 40.

Is anorexia a deviant behavior?

In their development of deviant identities, anorexics and bulimics proceed through the sequence of conforming behavior, primary deviance, and secondary deviance. Within a framework of labeling theory, the perpetuation of eating disorders is elucidated.

What are examples of deviant behaviors?

Examples of behaviors that are generally viewed as socially unacceptable include nose-picking, standing too close to other people, or not bathing regularly. Examples of deviant behavior include drug use, theft, murder, excessive alcohol use, and assault.

What is situational deviance?

Situational deviance refers to the way in which an act being seen as deviant or not depends on the context or ‘location in which it takes place.

What are examples of operant conditioning?

A child is scolded (unpleasant event) for ignoring homework (undesirable behavior.) A parent gives a child a time-out (unpleasant consequence) for throwing tantrums (unwanted behavior.) The police gives a driver a ticket (unpleasant stimulus) for speeding (unwanted behavior.)

How does operant conditioning relate to mental health?

Operant conditioning is a theory of learning in behavioral psychology that emphasises the impact that rewards and punishments for certain behaviors can have on future actions.

What are the 4 types of operant conditioning?

In Operant Conditioning Theory, there are essentially four quadrants: Positive Reinforcement, Positive Punishment, Negative Reinforcement, and Negative Punishment.

How does food aversion learning differ from typical examples of classical conditioning?

How does food-aversion learning differ from typical examples of classical conditioning? The successive events of eating the food and getting sick do not need to occur close together in time.

How does classical conditioning affect our eating habits?

How does classical conditioning affect our eating habits? You eat when you’re conditioned to eat, not when you are hungry. The smell and taste of food triggers the digestive system.

How does classical conditioning affect hunger?

Another example of classical conditioning is known as the appetizer effect. If there are otherwise neutral stimuli that consistently predict a meal, they could cause people to become hungry, because those stimuli induce involuntary changes in the body, as a preparation for digestion.

What is vicarious reinforcement give 2 examples?

A toddler learns to say the ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ on his own because he saw his older sibling do the same and get praised for it. A child eats all of his lunch in order to get dessert because he saw his older brother eat the entire meal and was given a dessert.

What are the examples of negative reinforcement?

  • Giving a pass to the car behind to avoid its honking.
  • Getting up from the bed to avoid the noisy alarm.
  • Taking an antacid before having a spicy meal.
  • Applying sunscreen before heading to the beach to avoid getting sunburned.
  • Leaving early from the house to avoid traffic jams.

Is the Bobo doll experiment reliable?

To test the inter-rater reliability of the observers, 51 of the children were rated by two observers independently and their ratings compared. These ratings showed a very high reliability correlation (r = 0.89), which suggested that the observers had a good agreement about the behavior of the children.

Which is a characteristic of a person with restricting type anorexia nervosa?

The restricting type of anorexia involves eating very little food and losing weight through self-starvation or excessive exercise. The number of calories consumed by restricting individuals is insufficient to support bodily functions and normal activities.

What are purging behaviors?

Purging refers to ridding the body of food and/or calories consumed in order to lose weight or prevent weight gain. Self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse, diuretic abuse, enemas and excessive exercise are well-known purging behaviors.

Is anorexia a form of schizophrenia?

An eating disorder may develop as a secondary condition to schizophrenia. And in some cases, a person with anorexia will develop psychotic symptoms but doesn’t necessarily have schizophrenia.

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