Self-determination and motivation for bariatric surgery: a qualitative study

This study examined how obese individuals acquire their motivation to undergo weight loss surgery and characterized the motivations within the framework of the self-determination theory (SDT). Participants expecting to have bariatric surgery were recruited and participated in semi-structured interviews. Interview accounts characterized different types of motivation for individuals seeking surgical weight loss treatments on the SDT continuum of relative autonomy. This study demonstrated that the more one’s motivation was internally regulated, related to one’s personal life and supported for competency, the more personal and hopeful were the anecdotes participants mentioned in accounts, thus the more positive the surgical outcomes were anticipated. Study limitations and future research were discussed as was the need for a systematic scheme to categorize types of motivation within the SDT, a longitudinal approach to measure actual weight loss outcomes based on the patient’s pre-surgical motivation, and a further investigation with a larger sample size and balanced gender ratio. Practical implications of the study findings were also discussed as a novel strategy to internalize bariatric patients’ motivation, further helping to improve their long-term quality of life post-surgery.     

A Computational Evaluation of Sentence Processing Deficits in Aphasia

Individuals with agrammatic Broca's aphasia experience difficulty when processing reversible non‐canonical sentences. Different accounts have been proposed to explain this phenomenon. The Trace Deletion account (Grodzinsky, 1995, 2000, 2006) attributes this deficit to an impairment in syntactic representations, whereas others (e.g., Caplan, Waters, Dede, Michaud, & Reddy, 2007; Haarmann, Just, & Carpenter, 1997) propose that the underlying structural representations are unimpaired, but sentence comprehension is affected by processing deficits, such as slow lexical activation, reduction in memory resources, slowed processing and/or intermittent deficiency, among others. We test the claims of two processing accounts, slowed processing and intermittent deficiency, and two versions of the Trace Deletion Hypothesis (TDH), in a computational framework for sentence processing (Lewis & Vasishth, 2005) implemented in ACT‐R (Anderson, Byrne, Douglass, Lebiere, & Qin, 2004). The assumption of slowed processing is operationalized as slow procedural memory, so that each processing action is performed slower than normal, and intermittent deficiency as extra noise in the procedural memory, so that the parsing steps are more noisy than normal. We operationalize the TDH as an absence of trace information in the parse tree. To test the predictions of the models implementing these theories, we use the data from a German sentence—picture matching study reported in Hanne, Sekerina, Vasishth, Burchert, and De Bleser (2011). The data consist of offline (sentence‐picture matching accuracies and response times) and online (eye fixation proportions) measures. From among the models considered, the model assuming that both slowed processing and intermittent deficiency are present emerges as the best model of sentence processing difficulty in aphasia. The modeling of individual differences suggests that, if we assume that patients have both slowed processing and intermittent deficiency, they have them in differing degrees.     

An evaluation of multi‐criteria methods in integrated assessment of climate policy

Those who conduct integrated assessments (IAs) are aware of the need to explicitly consider multiple criteria and uncertainties when evaluating policies for preventing global warming. MCDM methods are potentially useful for understanding tradeoffs and evaluating risks associated with climate policy alternatives. A difficulty facing potential MCDM users is the wide range of different techniques that have been proposed, each with distinct advantages. Methods differ in terms of validity, ease of use, and appropriateness to the problem. Alternative methods also can yield strikingly different rankings of alternatives. A workshop was held in which climate change experts and policy makers evaluated the usefulness of MCDM for IA. Participants applied several methods in the context of a hypothetical greenhouse gas policy decision. Methods compared include value and utility functions, goal programming, ELECTRE, fuzzy sets, stochastic dominance, min max regret, and several weight selection methods. Ranges, rather than point estimates, were provided for some questions to incorporate imprecision regarding weights. Additionally, several visualization methods for both deterministic and uncertain cases were used and evaluated. Analysis of method results and participant feedback through questionnaires and discussion provide the basis for conclusions regarding the use of MCDM methods for climate change policy and IA analyses. Hypotheses are examined concerning predictive and convergent validity of methods, existence of splitting bias among experts, perceived ability of methods to aid decision‐making, and whether expressing imprecision can change ranking results. Because participants gained from viewing a problem from several perspectives and results from different methods often significantly differed, it appears worthwhile to apply several MCDM methods to increase user confidence and insight. The participants themselves recommended such multimethod approaches for policymaking. Yet they preferred the freedom of unaided decision‐making most of all, challenging the MCDM community to create transparent methods that permit maximum user control. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validation Study of the Orientation Model: A Dual‐Process Assessment Framework

The orientation model is a multidimensional dual‐process assessment framework composed of 4 empirically validated instruments of cognitive processing, attachment, empathy, and introspection. It lends counselors a flexible means to assess client processing patterns relevant to clinical practice. The author used 375 participant responses to determine whether selected subscales align with analytic and experiential dual processes. Results suggest that the orientation model can serve as a dispositional framework for counseling practice. Implications and directions for future research are suggested.     

Exploration of likely engagement with Monetary Contingency Contracts for weight loss: a questionnaire study

Monetary Contingency Contracts (MCCs) are schemes that ask individuals to pledge money that is returned contingent on behaviour change. In relation to weight loss, this study explored likely levels of engagement with MCCs, how much individuals would be willing to pay into an MCC, and how these amounts vary under different contract conditions. Fifty-six individuals with BMI above 25 who were motivated to lose weight were recruited. The majority of participants (87.5%) indicated that they would be willing to engage with weight loss MCCs, but showed more reluctance to subscribe to pair-based MCCs which offered; (a) refunds contingent on the weight loss of a weight loss partner, and (b) ‘all or nothing refunds’ in which no reward is given for any weight loss below the target weight loss goal. This study provides preliminary evidence that individuals motivated to lose weight may be willing to engage with weight loss MCCs. Further research is needed to explore reasons for reluctance to subscribe to MCCs with certain conditions, to inform the design of future experimental studies testing the efficacy of MCCs as part of an intervention for weight loss.     

Embodied information affects judgements about politicians: The impact of haptic weight sensations and hand cleansing

Politicians' characteristics attract voters' attention and dominate impression formation. Thereby, social judgements are deduced from different information being available in a certain situation. The literature suggests that incidental bodily sensations can influence judgement processes. Here, two bodily treatments—the haptic sensation of weight and the act of hand cleansing—simultaneously contribute to judgements about politicians. This study expands previous works by (a) investigating potential interactions of two haptic information cues, (b) providing evidence for the significant role of conceptual closeness between embodied cues and judgement dimensions, (c) showing that hand cleansing leads to harsher moral judgements independently of whether a misconduct has been committed or not, and (d) showing that the familiarity of the target to be judged does not moderate the effect of embodied information. The results demonstrate that judgements can be modulated by basal sensorimotor experiences. We discuss implications and the important issue of result generalisation and replicability.     

Accuracy in estimating the body weight of self and others: Impact of dietary restraint and BMI

We examined the accuracy of people's estimates of their own body weight and of the body weight of other people. Female undergraduates (n = 132) self-reported their weight, were weighed by the experimenter, and completed a measure of dietary restraint. Participants also viewed 10 photographs of women ranging from underweight to obese and estimated their body weight. Individuals high in dietary restraint underestimated their own weight to a greater extent than those low in dietary restraint, but this effect was accounted for by individual differences in BMI: heavier participants underestimated their weight to a greater extent than leaner participants. Participants also underestimated the weight of heavier targets to a greater extent than they did leaner targets, but the degree of inaccuracy was not related to participants’ dietary restraint or BMI. These findings support the hypothesis that inaccuracies in self-reported weight reflect deliberate misreporting rather than a cognitive or perceptual bias.     

Overconcern with weight and shape is not the same as body dissatisfaction: evidence from a prospective study of pre-adolescent boys and girls

Overconcern with weight and shape and body dissatisfaction have both emerged as significant predictors of disordered eating. However, it is unclear how these constructs relate to each other, and if each has different antecedents and consequences. This study aimed to identify prospective predictors of each construct and to determine their relative importance in predicting dietary restraint and binge eating. Eight- to 13-year-old boys and girls (N = 259) were assessed at baseline and one-year follow-up, using a range of measures that included the Child Eating Disorder Examination. Psychosocial variables predicted overconcern with weight and shape whilst objective weight predicted body dissatisfaction. Body dissatisfaction and weight and shape concern predicted restraint, and weight and shape concern and restraint predicted binge eating. Findings provide support for the theoretical differences between body dissatisfaction and overconcern with weight and shape, and highlight the importance of focusing on specific body image variables.     

Longitudinal Gender Differences in Objectified Body Consciousness and Weight-Related Attitudes and Behaviors: Cultural and Developmental Contexts in the Transition from College

Longitudinal analysis of objectified body consciousness, body esteem, self-acceptance, and weight-related attitudes and behaviors in young adults (115 women and 49 men), who were undergraduates in 1993, tested hypotheses developed from theory on the social construction of gendered bodies and the developmental contexts of the post-college transition. Gender differences in body surveillance, body shame, and body esteem and the relationships between these persisted, whereas the relationship between body esteem and self-acceptance decreased for women and was similar to men at Wave 2. For both women and men, body surveillance and body shame decreased and body esteem increased over time, even though BMI also increased. Men wanted to lose weight at levels similar to women at Wave 2 and were equally likely to exercise to control weight, but they were less likely than women to diet. These results fit both cohort and age-related changes models of body experience for women and men.