Escape as reinforcement and escape extinction in the treatment of feeding problems

Given the effectiveness of putative escape extinction as treatment for feeding problems, it is surprising that little is known about the effects of escape as reinforcement for appropriate eating during treatment. In the current investigation, we examined the effectiveness of escape as reinforcement for mouth clean (a product measure of swallowing), escape as reinforcement for mouth clean plus escape extinction (EE), and EE alone as treatment for the food refusal of 5 children. Results were similar to those of previous studies, in that reinforcement alone did not result in increases in mouth clean or decreases in inappropriate behavior (e.g., Piazza, Patel, Gulotta, Sevin, & Layer, 2003). Increases in mouth clean and decreases in inappropriate behavior occurred when the therapist implemented EE independent of the presence or absence of reinforcement. Results are discussed in terms of the role of negative reinforcement in the etiology and treatment of feeding problems.     

Epistemological and Moral Conflict Between Religion and Science

Debates about religion and educational attainment often assume that members of certain religious groups do not seek out knowledge of science because they are opposed to the use of the scientific method. Using the science module of the 2006 General Social Survey, the analysis indicates that no religious group differs from the nonreligious comparison group in its propensity to seek out scientific knowledge. A more subtle epistemological conflict may arise when scientists make claims that explicitly contradict theological accounts. Findings indicate that Protestants and Catholics differ from the comparison group only on the very few issues where religion and science make competing claims. A third possible source of conflict may not be epistemological, but rather derives from opposition to what is understood as the public moral agenda of scientists. Findings indicate that conservative Protestants are opposed to scientific influence in public affairs due to opposition to the scientists’ moral agenda.     

AN EVALUATION OF A PROGRESSIVE HIGH-PROBABILITY INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE COMBINED WITH LOW-PROBABILITY DEMAND FADING IN THE TREATMENT OF FOOD SELECTIVITY

Few studies have examined the effects of the high‐probability instructional sequence in the treatment of food selectivity, and results of these studies have been mixed (e.g., Dawson et al., 2003 ; Patel et al., 2007 ). The present study extended previous research on the high‐probability instructional sequence by combining this procedure with low‐probability demand fading with 2 boys with autism (9 and 10 years old) who had a history of food selectivity and engaged in active food refusal behaviors when presented with novel foods. Response requirements were faded gradually from responses the child would tolerate (e.g., touching the food) to the final requirement of chewing and swallowing the food. The antecedent‐based intervention was implemented in the absence of escape extinction and was effective in increasing food consumption for both participants. Possible mechanisms responsible for the effectiveness of the intervention are discussed along with directions for future research.     

Justified indulgence: self-licensing effects on caloric consumption

Objective: Research on self-licensing, i.e. employing justifications to give into temptation, largely consists of studies examining dichotomous food choices (healthy vs. unhealthy), while evidence for its effects on how much (unhealthy) food is consumed remains scarce. The present studies aimed to demonstrate self-licensing effects on caloric consumption in both lab (Study 1 & 2) and field setting (Study 3).

Design: In all studies, female student samples were recruited. They either received a justification cue (license condition) or not (control condition), after which they could eat freely from unhealthy snacks (Study 1, N?=?85 and Study 2, N?=?95) or choose a snack for direct consumption at a take-out lunch place (Study 3, N?=?110).

Main outcome measures: Caloric value of consumed snacks (Study 1 and 2) and chosen snack (Study 3).

Results: In all studies, caloric consumption was higher in the license condition compared to the control condition: Participants ate more of the provided unhealthy snacks (Study 1 and 2) and chose a snack of higher caloric value (Study 3).

Conclusions: The present research corroborates self-licensing as an important factor in the consumption of unhealthy foods by employing more ecologically valid outcomes.     

试析1958年毛泽东对待粮食高产“卫星”的态度

对于1958年粮食大幅度增产，毛泽东是充满信心的，他认为，通过开展农田水利建设和积肥运动，深翻土地，推广密植，再加上群众冲天的干劲，实现粮食大增产是完全可能的。但是，毛泽东对于亩产万斤之类的高产“卫星”，并未作过正面肯定，基本上是持不置可否的态度。毛泽东并非不了解“大跃进”中存在虚报浮夸，但基于对干部群众“大跃进”热情的肯定和保护，而在一定程度上默许和容忍了这种现象。     

Job stress and coping strategies in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity

Lind, R., Lillestøl. K., Valeur, J., Eriksen, H. R., Tangen, T., Berstad, A. & Arslan Lied, G. (2009). Job stress and coping strategies in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 179–184. Psychological distress may be causally related to multiple, unexplained somatic symptoms. We have investigated job stress, coping strategies and subjective health complaints in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity. Sixty‐four patients were compared with 65 controls. All participants filled in questionnaires focusing on job stress, job demands and control, work environment, coping strategies and subjective health complaints. Compared with controls, patients scored significantly lower on job stress and job demands, and significantly higher on authority over job decisions. Coping strategies and satisfaction with work environment did not differ significantly between the two groups, but the patients reported significantly more subjective health complaints than the controls. Scores on job stress and job demands were generally low in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity. It is unlikely, therefore, that the patients’ high scores on subjective health complaints are causally related to the work situation.     

Localizing Detroit’s Food System: Boundary-Work and the Politics of Experiential Expertise

ABSTRACT

Recently, different expert actors have attempted to localize Detroit’s food system to bring about greater justice citywide. At first, ‘professional experts’ dominated these efforts, claiming authority in the food system due to their knowledge based in qualified training and applied work experience. Yet a rival group of ‘experiential experts’ soon rose up to assert their power, arguing they and their unique race and place-based know-how merited greater influence. Within just a few years, experiential experts successfully replaced professional ones in commanding much area food localization. I show that experiential experts achieved this power largely through strategic boundary-work, including expulsion, expansion, and protection of autonomy. Nonetheless, some Detroiters and professional experts themselves questioned experiential experts’ legitimacy in removing professional experts from the food system altogether. I thus introduce a fourth form of boundary-work that experiential experts deployed to maintain their clout, what I term ‘accommodation’. Accommodation connotes instances of strategic inclusion where an expert authority facilitates rivals in sharing some influence based on distinct conditions that leave dominant epistemic arrangements generally intact. This occurred in Detroit as experiential experts accommodated professional ones in exercising some food systems power provided they better deploy their own race and place-based knowledge. Such actions helped quell public concern while also protecting experiential experts’ rising authority. Accommodation is useful for understanding cases in which diverse types of experts work together despite that single knowledge-forms guide their activities overall. Further research into accommodation could aid in identifying whether or not diverse forms of knowledge are together influencing decision-making around a range of cases, or if single forms of expertise remain dominant despite the appearance that democratization is taking place.