operationalize - turn an abstract concept into a variable that can be measured or manipulated

Problems with self report:

- only good if report is honest

- social desirability bias

- some people can't report

behavioral measures - does it really capture concept?

rating

- maybe too subjective

- would other people agree?

reliability: stability or consistency in measurement

inter-rater (or, inter-observer) reliability -

Degree to which two (or more) raters or observers agree that they have seen the same thing.

motive -- stimulus that prompts a person to act in a particular way.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

1. Basic, physiological

2. Safety & security

3. Affiliation

4. Esteem

5. Self-actualization

Loewenstein (1996)

effect of "visceral" factors (body states, such as hunger, drug withdrawal, sleep deprivation) on judgments

homeostasis - body's attempt to maintain stable physiological state

Hunger cues in the brain:

Lateral hypothalamus -

("On" switch) - stimulating it increases motivation to eat; destroying it causes rats to stop eating (for a while)

Source of neuropeptide Y (neurotransmitter which stimulates eating)

Ventromedial hypothalamus -

("Off" switch) - part of the brain that is related to messages to stop eating

Destroy it in rats? - they will eat and eat and eat...

But:

- both areas are related to other processes besides eating

AND

- other areas are involved in eating

Other cues

- "mechanical" cues - stomach walls contract - not very important

- glucose and lipid sensors in blood

- social cues

"Survival of the fittest" - those exhibiting behavior that is most adaptive in a particular environment are more likely to survive long enough to reproduce, thus passing along genes.

Why are we so fat???!

1. change in lifestyle, "engineering out" activity, attitudes and availability of food

2. genetics (twin studies)

3. set point theory- natural weight that body tends toward

Obesity (like most good problems) has multiple, interacting, and confounded causes.

paradox: Trend toward more obesity AND more obsession with thinness

Heatherton & Baumeister (1991)

1) dieting requires monitoring self-behavior

2) monitoring self makes us self-aware

3) dieters have negative view of selves

4) therefore, highly aware of negative self view

(YUCK!)

5) try to avoid negative self views

6) narrow attentional focus, self-constraint lost --

BINGE!

Exercise as the way out?

Bulimia

- mostly women (90%)

- more common among college women (some estimate 10% of college women)

- seems to be related to anxiety and depression

Anorexia

- mostly women

- rarer than bulimia

- 30% die of complications

- seems to be related to obsessive compulsion disorder and perfectionism

- more of a genetic component than bulimia?

Similarities:

- serotonin regulation problems

- both associated with irrational or unreasonable beliefs, thoughts about eating, body image, restrained eaters

unconscious motives for anorexia?

(psychodynamic perspective)

- avoid becoming a woman

- desire for control

Practice questions:

1. A Psychology professor designs a quiz for his mostly English speaking Psychology class, but writes all the questions in Estonian. He gives the quiz, and not surprisingly, students barely get any questions right. He then gives them a chance to take the quiz again, but given that Estonian is a very hard language to learn, students do about the same. His test has:

a. validity

b. test-retest reliability

c. interrater reliability

d. none of the above

2. Kristen has anorexia. Which of the following statements is probably FALSE about Kristen?

a. She has about a 1 in 3 chance of dying from complications related to anorexia.

b. If she has an identical twin, it's more likely that the twin also has anorexia than that she doesn't.

c. She's more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety than someone with bulimia

d. The system that regulates her levels of serotonin exhibits some irregularities.