Relationship between food habituation and reinforcing efficacy of food

Reinforcing value and habituation are two processes that have been used to study eating behaviors, but no research has examined their relationship, how they relate to energy intake, and whether they respond in a similar manner to food deprivation. Twenty-two female subjects were randomized to food deprived or non-deprived conditions, and assessed for food reinforcement, habituation to food and ad libitum eating. Results showed food reinforcement and habituation are correlated (r = 0.62, p = 0.002) and both independently predict energy intake. Hierarchical regression showed that the rate of habituation accounted for 30 percent of the variance in eating (p = 0.008), and adding food reinforcement increased the amount of variance accounted for up to 57.5 percent (p < 0.05). This suggests that both processes may influence energy intake in a meal.     

An evaluation of simultaneous and sequential presentation of preferred and nonpreferred food to treat food selectivity

In the current investigation, we compared two methods of food presentation (simultaneous vs. sequential) to increase consumption of nonpreferred food for 3 children with food selectivity. In the simultaneous condition, preferred foods were presented at the same time as nonpreferred food (e.g., a piece of broccoli was presented on a chip). In the sequential condition, acceptance of the nonpreferred food resulted in presentation of the preferred food. Increases in consumption occurred immediately during the simultaneous condition for 2 of the 3 participants. For 1 participant, increases in consumption occurred in the simultaneous condition relative to the sequential condition, but only after physical guidance and re-presentation were added to treatment. Finally, consumption increased for 1 participant in the sequential condition, but only after several sessions. These results are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms that may alter preferences for food (i.e., establishing operations, flavor-flavor conditioning).     

From world hunger to food sovereignty: food ethics and human development

The role of Amartya Sen's early work on famine notwithstanding, food security is generally seen as but one capability among many for scholars writing in development ethics. The early literature on the ethics of hunger is summarized to show how Sen's Poverty and Famines was written in response to debates of past decades, and a brief discussion of food security as a capability follows. However, Sen's characterization of smallholder food security also supports the development of agency in both a political and an economic sense. Economic agency is discussed and tied to longstanding literatures on the moral significance of farming within political economy. Finally, while the newly emergent literature on food sovereignty includes many themes, it is shown to be re-articulating arguments that stress smallholder's economic agency as a development goal. This pattern of argument thus provides a way to reconcile at least some of the claims being advanced under the banner of food sovereignty with the human development approach, while also restoring food ethics to a more central place in the overall discourse of development ethics.     

素食与修行、健康新说

道经中的《大道延观碑》曰 :“其教以无为清静为宗 ,真常慈俭为宝 ,其戒则不色、不欲、不杀、不饮酒、不茹荤 ,以仁为心。”修道之人最讲慈悲二字 ,《太上虚皇天尊四十九章经》又云 :“慈悲之力 ,最为广大。”道经中也常说 :千善万善 ,不戒杀生不为真善。所以我们只有首先做到食素 ,才能做到不害生、不伤生、不杀生 ,才能培养起我们功德无量的慈悲之心。在大自然中 ,多数食肉类动物的性格都比较凶猛 ,如狼、狮、虎、豹。而以食素为主的羊、兔、马、鹿性格则相对比较温顺。据说有科学家做过一个试验 ,即用不同食物喂养鸽子。研究者将鸽子分成…     

Sensation seeking and food preferences

The relationships between sensation seeking and preferences for various foods were studied. A Japanese version of the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) and food preference questionnaire were administered to a total of 105 students (66 males and 39 females). Preference ratings of 70 foods were factor analyzed and 7 factors concerning food preference patterns were extracted. Preference ratings for food items with high loadings on these 7 factors were correlated with subjects' scores on SSS. Significant and positive correlations were found between total scores of SSS and the preference ratings for spicy foods (loading on factor 1), meats (loading on factor 4), and alcoholic beverages (loading on factor 6). Among subscales of SSS, following subscores correlated significantly and positively with preference for several food groups: (1) ES, TAS and spicy foods. (2) TAS and meats, ES and a few items of meats. (3) TAS, BS and alcoholic beverages. But, Dis scale did not correlate with any food groups. Common features and differences between the results of present research and previous ones connected in the U.S.A. were discussed.     

道教服食药与中医食疗

饮食疗法,古时简称食疗、食治。原始人在寻找食物的过程中,偶然发现某些食物,吃后可以增强体力,减少疾病,遂由偶然食用到主动寻找,经过长期实践积累,逐步得出了一些经验,形成了食、养、医相结合的理论体系。在周朝就有了食医的分科,乃至《黄帝内经》成书,书中汲取道家阴阳学说及与天地相应的理论思想,指出“在天为气,在地成形,气形相咸,     

Effects of gastric loads and food deprivation on subsequent food intake in suckling rats.

Suckling rats were subjected to deprivation periods of 6-8 hr. Intake following deprivation was greater in deprived than in nondeprived sucklings, but did not increase with increasing deprivation. Gastric loads of NaCl solutions depressed subsequent intake; 3% NaCl was more effective than .9% NaCl. Other gastric loads of varying osmotic and caloric value also depressed subsequent intake. In order of increasing effectiveness in depressing intake, the gastric loads were protein hydrolystate, heavy cream, water, milk, lactose, glucose, and corn oil. Effectiveness was unrelated to osmotic or caloric value of the load. Gastric fill and, possibly, some property of carbohydrate appear to be important determinants of satiety in the suckling rat.     

Summation of food and shock based responding

In a multiphase experiment, dogs first received discriminative, discretetrial, barrier-jumping training with two tones (S^D, S^Δ) in a shuttle box reinforced by either shock avoidance (Group I) or by food (Group II). Then the dogs were trained on free-operant barrier-jumping reinforced by the qualitatively opposite reinforcer—food in Group I and shock avoidance in Group II. Finally, test presentations of the tone stimuli were superimposed on the free-operant behavior. The tone S^Ds markedly facilitated responding in all animals. This experiment demonstrates a summation of responding maintained by shock avoidance and food reinforcement and casts doubt on explanations of conditioned suppression outcomes that appeal solely to incompatible motivational states within the organism.     

Observing stimulus sources that signal food or no food

Pigeons were given a choice between observing a stimulus source that was uncorrelated with food or one that was informative. The informative source was either positive, in which a stimulus change signalled food, or negative, in which change signalled no food. If observing is supported by the reduction of uncertainty, the negative as well as the positive source should be preferred to the uncorrelated source. On the other hand, if observing requires support by conditioned reinforcement, the negative source should not be preferred to the uncorrelated source. Two keys served as stimulus sources in a discrete trial procedure. The keys were lighted together, remained on for a variable length of time, and went off together. A key could change color 1 sec before going off. In the uncorrelated source, the change occurred equally often on trials ending with or without food. In the positive information source, the change occurred only on food trials, whereas in the negative information source, it occurred only on no-food trials. All stimulus changes and food delivery were response independent. As measured by orientation and autoshaped pecking, the positive information source was preferred to the uncorrelated source. However, the uncorrelated source was preferred to the negative information source. The latter result does not support the view that observing behavior is reinforced by the reduction of uncertainty. The positive and negative information sources reduced uncertainty equally but only the positive source provided a signal that could act as a conditioned reinforcer by virtue of its relation to food.     

Confucianism,food, and sustainability

This paper addresses the issue of ecological sustainability and the dilemma between instrumental rationality and protection of the environment through a discussion of food production. In Confucianism, all human activities, including consumption of food, are seen as inseparable from problems of value. While Confucianism stresses the importance of healthy food, it rejects viewing nature as only having instrumental value. The Confucian view of sustainability can be seen from three parts: (1) Humans should follow the murmuring of their 'heart/mind' and seek to restrict the use of natural resources as much as possible to ‘let every being manifest its mandate to the full’; (2) Harmony with nature is a premise for sustaining humanity; and (3) Finally, taking care of the fundamental needs of the people is a premise for ecological sustainability.