D. Balfour Jeffrey

Situational Management, Standard Setting, and Self-Reward in a Behavior Modification Weight Loss Program

In a comprehensive weight loss program, overweight women exposed to instruction in self-standard setting as well as to situational management techniques lost more weight than those instructed only in situational management techniques. Addition of instruction in self-reinforc ement to standard setting and situational management failed to produce additional weight loss. Findings illustrate the facilitative effect of teaching individuals to set specific, objective, and realistic goals for eating behaviors and weight and the difficulties of incorporating self-reward procedures in a comprehensive program. Short-term behavioral programs have yielded promising results, but there has been insufficient research on the variables involved (Abramson, 1977). Although several investigators have found greater weight losses in individuals taught to reward themselves for changing eating habits or weight than in controls instructed to selfmonitor eating and weight (e.g., Bellack, 1976; Mahoney, 1974), the role of standard setting as a component of self-reinforc ement has not been adequately studied. In the present study, 57 women, who ranged from 17.0% to 84.8% above ideal body weight (M = 45.4) on insurance tables were recruited from the community through newspaper ads. They ranged in age from 17 to 65 years (M = 37.8), and most came from a middle or uppermiddle socioeconomic level, They deposited

Processes in the maintenance of weight loss with behavior therapy

40, which was returned contingent on attendance at group meetings, and were divided into triplets of approximately equal body weights and percentages of overweight. Members of each triplet were assigned randomly to the three treatment groups, each of which met for 90 minutes for 8 consecutive weeks and for a follow-up meeting 8 weeks after treatment. Group meetings consisted of a private weigh-in and presentation and discussion of specific behavioral techniques to be used during the following week. Three therapists, all of whom were familiar with behavior modification but who were in

Assertion training: The effectiveness of a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment package with professional nurses

Twenty-seven-week follow-up data for 51 women who completed a behavioral weight loss program indicated small but significant additional weight losses. Participants adhered better to techniques oriented toward altering the eating environment than with self-standard setting and self-reward. However, reported continued attention to standard-setting and self-reward techniques correlated significantly with weight loss during the last 19 weeks of follow-up. Participants showing a high need for social approval and an internal locus of control lost the most weight during this period. These women might not only have believed that they had the power to lose weight but also found doing so to be highly reinforcing.

A comparison of the three-factor eating questionnaire and the restraint scale and consideration of lowe’s three-factor model

Abstract The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment package with a professional population of registered nurses using multiple self-report and role-play measures. Twenty-six self-referred registered nurses were randomly assigned to either a Treatment or Control group. The treatment package consisted of five weekly 2-hr sessions of group assertion training using the cognitive-behavioral model of Lange and Jakubowski. The Assertiveness Self-statement Test, the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, the Adult Self-expression Scale, two Likert scales and role-play were used to evaluate changes over time. The results indicated: (1) the nurses in both groups at Pretreatment were clearly subassertive; (2) by Posttraining the Treatment-group members increased significantly their assertiveness as indicated on the self-report tests; (3) Treatment-group members had successfully maintained their improved assertiveness by the 2-month Follow-up; (4) the role-play ratings paralleled and supported the self-report results, but not at significant levels; (5) there was strong empirical support for the social validity of the treatment package; and (6) there was a high degree of treatment credibility for the cognitive-behavioral Assertion-training group. Overall, the results indicate clear support for the effectiveness of a broad-based cognitive-behavioral treatment package for treating subassertive behavior in a professional population of registered nurses.

Television commercials as a symbolic representation of reward in the delay of gratification paradigm

This study compared the Restraint Scale (RS) and the Cognitive Restraint Scale of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-CR) in their ability to predict negative-affect eating (disinhibition of restraint) in the laboratory. It was hypothesized that the RS would be a better predictor of disinhibited eating in the laboratory. Subjects (104 college women) were classified as either high or low on both scales, resulting in four separate groups. Subjects were then randomly assigned to either negative or neutral mood manipulations resulting in a 2 x 2 x 2 (RS x TFEQ-CR x Mood) design. A taste-test paradigm was utilized in which grams of crackers consumed following the mood manipulation was the dependent measure. No significant differences in laboratory food consumption were found between groups. Evidence was provided, however, suggesting that there are important differences between the two scales. The current study did offer some support for Lowes (1993) three-factor model of dieting behavior, which differentiates between individuals who are currently dieting and those who have a history of frequent dieting and overeating.

A Self-Environmental Systems Model and Its Implications for Behavior Change

The effects of television commercials as a symbolic representation in the delay of gratification paradigm were studied. Preschool children waiting for a food reward in a no-television-commercial condition had substantially shorter waiting times than children in a food-ad or a toy-ad condition. However, there were no significant differences between the food-ad and the toy-ad group in terms of amount of time waited. A post hoc analysis suggested that both the toy ads and the food ads had, as their most salient feature to the children, not consummatory or play aspects but general “fun,” distracting aspects. This replicates Mischel, Ebbesen, and Zeisss (1972) finding that childrens generating fun thoughts served to facilitate their delaying. The need for research on the influence of television commercials on childrens self-control and the apparent feasibility of the delay of gratification paradigm as one experimental approach are discussed.

The Development of Children's Eating Habits: The Role of Television Commercials

Psychologists who are interested in basic research and psychologists who are interested in applied research often do not communicate well; they often talk at one another rather than with one another. Such a tendency is particularly unfortunate in the field of psychology. For example, “rat runners” and “behavior therapists” have a great deal to offer one another, precisely because of their different perspectives on the same general subject matter. If the two branches of psychology were to get “divorced” on the grounds of irreconcilable differences, it would surely be the case that the applied branch would have to develop a basic science capability, for effective application is based on scientific discovery. In a similar vein, the basic science branch would have to develop an applied capability, because basic science without application is sterile and wasteful. It would be a shame to go through all that work and conflict just to end up in the same places.