AN- One non-biological explanation Flashcards
How does the Learning approach explain AN?
People learn how to be anorexic due to environmental influences
- It could have developed due to rewards and punishments from the environment
- Individuals are rewarded for being slim and losing weight as in todays Western society models and pop stars are mostly very slim and these people are very influential in the development of social norms regarding appearance
- Indicidual symptoms include fear of food - classical conditioning
What is the Western culture view on body appearance and how is it related to AN?
The Western cultures have a hyper focus on dieting and body appearance. Digitally retouched photos are the norm and body dissatisfaction is more pronounced in affluent countries where people lead a lifestyle more characterised by high levels of individualism and consumption. In these countries, people may experience greater pressures to conform to the “ideal body” due to having greater access to body centres information and images through media.
What did Ordaz et al discover about thinness pressures between White women and Black women?
Research from the US found that the strongest sources of thinness pressures for White women are from the media, peers and family whereas for Black women, peer attitudes and family pressures are more pronounced
What did Swami et al say about self esteem and body image?
One study which examined whether there were differences in positive body image among British female undergraduates of different ethnicities, Found that Hispanic female undergraduates reported the lowest score on media influence and the highest score on self esteems, the authors proposed that high self esteem could serve as a protective factor against media influence in this group
How do role models have an influence of people with AN? (SLT)
Female celebrities, same gender, age and status
Family members may have AN as well
Where do we pay attention in AN? (SLT)
Always in the media, magazines, tweets, Instagram etc
When does retention happen in AN? (SLT)
Repeated exposure- visually remember, verbally remember
How is there Vicariously reinforcement/ punishment for celebrities in the media which affects AN? (SLT)
celebrities who have gained weight are punished in the media, so the observer may want to avoid that punishment. The “slimmness ideal” is learned through the media. Celebrities receive fame, fortune, likes etc for promoting slimness ideals
How does self efficacy relate to AN? (SLT)
Easy to follow diets and affordable
How does self esteem relate to AN? (SLT)
Those with low self esteem about their body images, perhaps from previous direct punishment, will be more likely to imitate anorexic behaviours
What motor production is linked to AN?
Imitate behaviour of restricting diet, extreme exercising/ meal replacements/ substitutes
What positive reinforcement is linked with AN? (OC)
Continuing admiration is reinforcing, more weight loss, more admiration. Extreme weight loss gets attention and concern which is also rewarding. All this increases the likelihood of them striving to lose weight.
How does negative reinforcement links to AN (OC)??
Avoiding food (now the feared stimulus) means avoiding fearful feelings. Or, avoiding food leads to positive feelings that they do not gain weight.
How does classical conditioning link to AN??
The fear of gaining weight is paired with eating and a classically conditioned anxiety response develops
Next time the person has food they will feel anxious and in order to reduce the anxiety they will avoid eating
How does the behavioural approach explain AN?
Explains gender differences as females more influences by media models
Though the male “thin” stereotype is increasing as is anorexia in males
How does the behavioural approach explain cultural differences about AN?
Anorexia is non existent in China. Chinese have a cultural norm respecting food and thinness is not valued
How does Hoek et al disagree with the cultural differences in AN?
They examines 44, 192 records of patients admire to hospital over 2 years 1987-89 in Curaçao where it is okay to be overweight. Found 6 cases of eating disorders
What does Sui-Wah say about AN?
It is rare in black populations in the West and non- western cultures
However this does not explain individual differences- exposure to think models doesn’t necessarily lead to AN, nor does everyone who diets become anorexic
What did Barlow and Durand discover about half the contestants in Miss America?
They were 15% or more below the expected body weight
What does the cognitive approach in psychology focus on in relation to AN?
It focuses on how distorted thinking processes, such as irrational beliefs and cognitive biases, affect behaviours like restrictive eating in AN.
What are cognitive distortions in AN and how do they affect the individual?
People with AN misperceive their body shape and often interpret emotional states as “feeling fat.” This can lead them to believe they are larger than they really are.
What is the ‘body schema’ according to Stephen Gadsby (2017)?
It’s a dynamic internal cognitive representation of body size and shape. In AN, this schema is distorted, making individuals see themselves as larger than they are.
What did Guardia et al. (2012) find about body perception in AN patients?
AN participants overestimated their body size when imagining walking through a doorway, but were accurate when imagining someone else doing it.
What are some examples of irrational beliefs in AN?
Examples include all-or-nothing thinking (“If I don’t control my weight, I’m worthless”) and catastrophising (“I ate half a biscuit—I have no willpower”).
What core belief did Steinglass et al. (2007) identify in people with AN?
A dominant fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, which can be so extreme in some individuals that it becomes delusional.
What is impaired global processing, and how does it relate to AN?
It’s the difficulty in integrating details into a whole picture. In AN, this leads to an inaccurate perception of overall body shape.
What is enhanced local processing in people with AN?
It refers to a strong focus on small details (e.g., “fat eyelids”) rather than the bigger picture, contributing to distorted body image.
What is ‘weak central coherence’ and who identified it as a possible cause of AN?
It’s a cognitive style combining poor global processing and enhanced detail focus. Lang and Chanturia (2014) suggest it may be an inherited vulnerability to AN.
What evidence supports cognitive distortions in AN from fMRI studies (Sachdev et al., 2008)?
AN patients had reduced brain activity when viewing their own bodies but not others’, supporting the idea that distortions are self-specific.
What does Lang et al. (2016) suggest about the causation of weak central coherence in AN?
They found no difference in processing between recovered AN patients and controls, suggesting weak central coherence might be a result of starvation, not a cause.
How does Hamatani et al. (2018) challenge Lang et al?
They controlled for clinical symptoms and still found weak central coherence in AN participants, suggesting it could be a cognitive cause, not just a symptom.
What did Cornelissen et al. (2013) find that challenges cognitive theories of AN?
They found no significant difference in body size estimation between AN patients and controls, questioning whether body image distortion is central to AN.
How has cognitive theory contributed to treatments for AN?
It led to cognitive-behavioural treatments (CBT) targeting distorted thoughts. Grave et al. (2014) found CBT helped increase weight and reduce body shape concerns.
