Distinguish between anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Outline the potential nature and nurture bases of such eating disorders.
What will be an ideal response?
People with anorexia nervosa refuse to eat, exercise excessively, or use laxatives and diuretics to lose weight. To be diagnosed, a person must refuse to maintain a body weight of 85 percent of the recommended weight for their height. They often have a distorted body image and refuse to seek treatment. Bulimia nervosa is diagnosed when a person engages in cycles of bingeing and purging. After a binge episode, the individual will feel uncomfortably full, and will feel shame or guilt over the bingeing. That will lead to the purging of the food. People with bulimia may also engage in excessive exercise or the use of laxatives and diuretics to make up for overeating. A person who suffers from binge eating disorder engages in bingeing without the compensatory behavior of excessive exercise, vomiting, and/or laxative use. When considering nature and nurture issues as they overlay eating disorders, some eating disorders have a genetic component that can then be spurred on by environmental factors. Exposure to media that supports the "perfect" body can become an environmental factor that leads to the desire to be thin or muscular. Also, biologically, the same neurotransmitter that is associated with addiction lights up when bingeing. This leads to a desire to continue the behavior. Personality factors may play a role in the nature of the disorders as well. Since personality is both biological and environmental, it supports a role for both nature and nurture. People who are perfectionistic and obsessive-compulsive are more likely to develop anorexia, while people who are high in impulsivity and low in conscientiousness are more likely to binge eat.
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Based on research presented in the text, which of the following is the best recommendation for disciplining children?
a. Rely mostly on reinforcement. b. Avoid reinforcement; rely mostly on punishment to achieve faster effects. c. Use only punishment. d. Use only reinforcement. e. Try to balance the use of reinforcement and punishment.
You find that your infant takes great pleasure in the game of peek-a-boo. What Piagetian concept explains this observation?
a. object permanence c. assimilation b. deferred imitation d. preoperations
Molecules that can cross the blood-brain barrier are usually ____.
A. large, uncharged molecules, such as lactose B. large, charged molecules C. neurotransmitters, such as dopamine D. molecules that can dissolve in the fats of the capillary walls
What does George Miller mean by the "Magic Number Seven plus or minus two"?
a. The number of pieces of information the average person can easily recall after a single exposure. b. The amount of information that can be memorized in one sitting. c. The number of saccadic eye movements in a fixation. d. The time it takes information to pass from short-term memory to long-term memory.