Premium
A PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOD QUANTITY AND RUMINATION
Author(s) -
Rast Jim,
Johnston James M.,
Drum Cheryl
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1984.41-125
Subject(s) - ruminating , rumination , meal , regurgitation (circulation) , psychology , feeding behavior , food science , zoology , mathematics , medicine , biology , cognition , neuroscience
Rumination is the chronic regurgitation, chewing, and reswallowing of previously ingested food. The study reported here, using a parametric design, examined the control of rumination by the quantity of food eaten at meals. The subjects were three profoundly retarded individuals who chronically emitted this behavior. The quantity of food by weight ingested daily was varied in 10‐oz steps in both ascending and descending series (data were collected only after breakfasts and lunches). Ruminating decreased when food quantity increased and increased when food quantity decreased. In addition, there was a similar inverse interaction between breakfast food quantity and post‐lunch ruminating. The data showed relatively rapid transitions in both frequency and duration at each meal size for all subjects. The data establish a clear functional relation between the quantity of food ingested and ruminating.