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EFFECTS OF NUTRITIONAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF FOOD ON RUMINATIVE BEHAVIOR
Author(s) -
Rast Jim,
Johnston James M.,
Allen Julia Ellinger,
Drum Cheryl
Publication year - 1985
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.1985.44-195
Subject(s) - ruminating , calorie , food science , bran , starch , stomach , zoology , caloric theory , psychology , mathematics , chemistry , biology , rumination , endocrinology , biochemistry , raw material , cognition , organic chemistry , neuroscience
Previous studies have identified a reliable relation between the quantity of food ingested and ruminating in profoundly retarded individuals and have established some parametric characteristics of this relation. The present study investigated three different properties of food that may influence this relation. Experiment 1 examined the role of stomach distention produced by including in the subject's diet wheat bran in amounts equivalent to and exceeding the calculated amount of crude fiber in the starch‐satiation diet reported by Rast, Johnston, Drum, and Conrin (1981) and Rast, Johnston, and Drum (1984). There was a decrease in ruminating, although this decrease was smaller and more gradual than in the starch‐satiation condition. Experiment 2 showed that increasing calories without increasing food volume resulted in a gradual and moderate decrease in ruminating. Experiment 3 replicated and extended the first two experiments by varying both caloric intake and stomach distention as well as oropharyngeal and esophageal stimulation in a different sequence of conditions. All variables exerted some control over responding. However, the large and immediate effects of the starch‐satiation procedure occurred only when subjects were permitted to consume unlimited quantities.