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Eating

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A diet usually refers to a lower calorie intake than normal. The general view is that dieting to lose weight may succeed in the short term, but the lost weight often returns in the long term. A number of aims can inspire the diet: the ideal of slimness being attractive and youthful, as well as healthy, and so the possibility of a longer lifespan.
Operant conditioning provides an account for the success and failure of dieting. Learning theory provides an explanation for the success or failure of dieting. Operant conditioning could positively reinforce dieting behaviour and weight loss if the weight loss is successful, so this would encourage the dieting behaviour to be repeated. On the other hand, if the diet did not result in weight loss this would be seen as punishing. Feelings of hunger would also provide punishment and so if punishment outweighed rewards then the dieting behaviour would be stamped out.
There are a variety of evaluative points that can be made through the operant conditioning explanation for the success and failure of dieting:
Face validity. The strength of operant conditioning is that it offers a simple explanation that does seems to account for the success and failure of dieting.
Reductionism. A key weakness of operant conditioning is that it only considers environmental factors (nurture) and so ignores the biological factors, for which there is strong evidence.
Ignores cognition. A key weakness of operant conditioning is that it ignores the role of cognition because it is not observable and measurable and so is considered unworthy of study. This is a key weakness because clearly thoughts and expectations play a major role in dieting.

There are also biological explanations that provide an account for the success and failure of dieting. Mark (2006) argues that the reason diets fail is less to do with environmental factors and more to do

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