THE COSTS OF EATING: A BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF FOOD REFUSAL

Behavioral economic concepts were applied to the analysis and treatment of pediatric feeding disorders in a clinical setting. In Experiment 1, children who chronically refused food were presented with varying amounts of food on a spoon (empty, dipped, quarter, half, and level). Each child exhibited a different but orderly demand function of response (acceptance, expulsion, and mouth clean) by cost (increasing spoon volume) for a constant pay-off of toys and social interaction. In Experiment 2, physical guidance or nonremoval of the spoon for food refusal was initiated at the smallest spoon volume with low levels of acceptance, and was subsequently introduced at the largest spoon volume with moderate levels of acceptance. Treatment was effective in increasing acceptance, and these effects generalized hierarchically across untargeted spoon volumes. The results of both studies provide preliminary support that increasing spoon volume can be equated conceptually with increasing response effort, and that the change from differential reinforcement to physical guidance or nonremoval of the spoon appears to have altered the elasticity of each child's demand function.     

TWO MEASURES OF PREFERENCE DURING FORCED-CHOICE ASSESSMENTS

A forced-choice preference assessment was conducted in which two dependent measures were used to select preferred stimuli: (a) approach responding and (b) latency to the first aberrant response. Stimuli identified as preferred based on both dependent measures were then evaluated during treatment. The results suggested that latency may be a useful measure in the selection of preferred stimuli during forced-choice assessments.     

Book reviews

Luba Gurdjieff: A Memoir with Recipes. Luba Gurdjieff Everitt with Marina C. Bear, 1993, Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press 105 pp., £11.99, US$14.94 ISBN 0–89815–360–3

The Taste For Things That Are True. Henri Tracol, 1994 Longmead, Shaftesbury: Element Books 137 pp., £9.99, US$14.95 ISBN 1–85230–468–5

Religion Defined and Explained. Peter B. Clarke & Peter Byrne, 1993 London: Macmillan/New York: St Martin's Press 214 pp. £42.50, US$55.00 ISBN 0–33353–841–2

Sikhism and Christianity: A Comparative Study. W. Owen Cole & P. S. Sambhi, 1993 Basingstoke: Macmillan xii + 221 pp., £10.99 (pb), £35.00 (hb) ISBN 0–33354–107–3 (pb), 0–33354–106–5 (hb)

Hindu Children in Britain. Robert Jackson & Eleanor Nesbitt, 1993 Stoke‐on‐Trent: Trentham Books 240 pp., £15.95 ISBN 0–948080–73–6

Feminist Theology from the Third World: A Reader. Ursula King, ed., 1994 London: SPCK/Orbis 434 pp., £17.50 ISBN 0–88344–963–3

A Time to Chant: The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain. B. Wilson & K. Dobbeleare, 1994 Oxford: Clarendon Press 267 pp., £25.00 ISBN 0–19–827915–9     

Book reviews

Base Christian Communities and Social Change In Brazil. W.E Hewitt, Lincoln, London: Universty of Nebraska Press, 1991. 150 pp, £ 23.70.

Spiritual Quest. An Inter‐Religious Dimension. Hasan Askari, West Yorkshire: Seven Mirrors, 1991. 152 pp. £10.00. ISBN 1–873685

The Bed worth R.E. Project. Peter Woodward, ed. Warwick; University of Warwick, Department of Arts Education, 1991. 59 pp, (no price indicated).

A Dictionary of Judaism and Christianity. Dan Cohn‐Sherbok, London: SPCK, 1991. 181 pp. £15 ISBN 0–281–04538–0

Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth, Lesslie Newbigin, London: SPCK, 1991. 90pp, £5.99.     

Heart rate reactivity in attention deficit disorder subgroups

Beat-to-beat heart rate (HR) was analyzed for 9 contiguous seconds in a warned reaction time (RT) paradigm. Imperative stimuli were tones of three intensity levels (55, 78, and 100 db); a visual warning signal occurred 5 sec before tone onset. Baseline and reward conditions were run. Normal controls were contrasted with three Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) subgroups: ADD-only, ADD with hyperactivity (ADDH), ADD with hyperactivity and aggression (ADDHA). The ADD subgroups were predicted to show less deceleration in HR because of their problem sustaining readiness to respond. Significant sex x group differences in HR levels and change scores were found. Overall, girls had higher HR levels than boys and the ADD-only group (boys and girls) had lower HRs than the other ADD groups. But, the ADD-only boys had more marked deceleration to the warning signal and acceleration to the tones than the other ADD boys, whereas the ADD-only girls were no more reactive than the ADDH and ADDHA girls. Control girls had the highest HR levels and were the most reactive to stimuli. Control boys and ADD-only boys had similar HR levels and reaction patterns. ADD-only girls appear to be underaroused, whereas ADD-only boys do not. Results suggest that cardiac measures can provide external validation of disruptive and nondisruptive ADD subtypes.     

Auditory stimulus intensity gradients and response to methylphenidate in ADD children

Using an auditory stimulus intensity paradigm, we obtained both event related potentials (ERPs) and press and release reaction times (RT) from a large sample of children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). The ERP gradients to three tone intensities were used to classify the children as augmenters (steep gradients), moderates, or reducers (shallow or negative gradients). The RT data were used to classify the children as strong or sensitive, following neo-Pavlovian guidelines. The children were then cross-classified on these two dimensions and compared on cognitive, behavioral, and performance measures. The groups were also compared in response to two dosage levels of methylphenidate. Based on prior studies, we hypothesized that: 1. ERP augmenters would respond as well to the low as high dose but that reducers would respond better to high than low dose; and II. sensitive types (RT measure) would do better on the higher dose and strong types on the low dose. The first hypothesis was confirmed on a performance task but not on behavioral ratings. At the lower dose, augmenters improved most and reducers least on a 10-minute coding task presumed to require sustained attention. There was no support for the second hypothesis either in ratings or performance. The ERP augmentation measure was significantly related to teacher rated attentiveness; i.e., reducers and moderates were rated more adversely. The RT sensitivity measure tended to be related to achievement; i.e., strong types had lower reading and spelling scores. The ERP and RT sensitivity measures were not significantly correlated.     

Posttraumatic stress disorder: A sensitization reaction

This article discusses past research bearing on the question of the etiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It argues that PTSD can be adequately accounted for by a process of emotional sensitization and that this is a more parsimonious explanation than the two-factor learning theory of Mowrer, now postulated by several writers. In brief, the etiology and subsequent development of PTSD is viewed as the result of the sensitization of fear/anxiety which is linked to a variety of to be conditional stimuli by both backward and forward association: these become conditional stimuli (CSi) once paired with the instigating circumstances. It is furthermore assumed that PTSD will not occur in the absence of a genetic susceptibility that may vary from zero to absolute certainty. Thus far, our evidence is limited to a sensitivity to loud sounds, but it is highly probable that touch and other sensory systems are involved (not necessarily in parallel). The fact that abuse often leads to behavioral disorders, including sexually seductive behaviors in children sexually abused, requires a recognition that emotional reactions other than fear may be sensitized. Fear in combination with pleasure or pleasure alone coupled with a loss of self-esteem may explain these acting-out behaviors.