‘Demand Characteristics' in Body-Size Estimation in Anorexia Nervosa

1986 ◽  
Vol 149 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Proctor ◽  
Stephen Morley
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Demand Characteristics ◽  
Subsequent Trial ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Body Size Estimation ◽  
Normal Controls

We asked 24 patients with anorexia nervosa and 30 normal controls to estimate their body-size several times, each time using different instructions. The degree of over-estimation was found to vary predictably with the wording of the instructions. Informing the subject that she had made an error without specifying the direction of the error resulted in reduced over-estimation on a subsequent trial, for both anorexics and controls. ‘Internally directed’ instructions were associated with a greater degree of over-estimation than ‘external’ instructions in both groups, but particularly in anorexic subjects. Our results indicate the necessity of controlling the ‘demand characteristics' of such experiments.

Body-Size Estimation in Anorexia Nervosa

1995 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Molinari
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Body Size ◽  
The Body ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Image Perception ◽  
Pelvic Area ◽  
Body Size Estimation ◽  
Different Parts

The aim was to explore the body-image perception of a group of 20 hospitalised anorexic patients, aged 18 to 21 years, undergoing a period of treatment. The instrument used was the Askevold nonverbal perception test as modified by Allamani and colleagues in 1978 to assess perception of the dimensions of different parts of the body by exploiting the capacity to project them into space. The four parts were the head, the thoracic area, the abdominal area, and the pelvic area. Analysis of responses indicated that anorexic patients overestimated the abdominal and the pelvic areas much more than the 20 members of the control group (50% vs 30%). The areas of the head and thorax were perceived almost in their real dimensions by the anorexic patients but were underestimated by the control group.

Body Size Estimation in Bulimia

1986 ◽  
Vol 149 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Whitehouse ◽  
Christopher P. L. Freeman ◽  
Annette Annandale
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Image Method ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Body Size Estimation ◽  
And Control ◽  
Television Image ◽  
Normal Controls

Body size estimation was studied in 22 patients with bulimia and 20 normal controls. Two methods of body size estimation were used, a distorting television image method (DTIM) and the image marking method (IMM). The subjects estimated body size of a dummy as well as their own body on the DTIM. When estimating body size on the DTIM the bulimics overestimated and the controls underestimated, there being a significant difference between the two groups. There was no difference between the groups when estimating the size of the dummy. On the IMM a significant difference was found between the bulimic and control groups, the bulimics overestimating body size and the controls being more accurate. Marked directional effects were found with the DTIM. The two methods of body size estimation are compared.

Distorting Patient or Distorting Instrument?

1989 ◽  
Vol 155 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. Bowden ◽  
S. W. Touyz ◽  
P. J. Rodriguez ◽  
R. Hensley ◽  
P. J. V. Beumont
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Normal Control ◽  
Control Object ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Visual Size ◽  
Normal Controls ◽  
The Way

Three current techniques for estimating body size (Image Marking, Visual Size Estimation, and Distorting Video techniques) were compared. Anorexia nervosa and bulimic patients and normal control subjects were required to make size judgements of the way they ‘knew’ they looked, the way they ‘felt’ they looked, and of the width of an inanimate control object. Results from the three techniques were not the same, thus implying that research findings can no longer be cross-compared. Moreover, while all subjects were similar in the accuracy of their estimation of a control object, anorexia nervosa and bulimic patients overestimated their own body size significantly more than normal controls. This difference was even more marked when affective instructions were compared.

scholarly journals Body size estimation in women with anorexia nervosa and healthy controls using 3D avatars

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katri K. Cornelissen ◽  
Kristofor McCarty ◽  
Piers L. Cornelissen ◽  
Martin J. Tovée
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Body Size Estimation

scholarly journals Depictive and metric body size estimation in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: A systematic review and meta-analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 21-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Claire Mölbert ◽  
Lukas Klein ◽  
Anne Thaler ◽  
Betty J. Mohler ◽  
Chiara Brozzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Bulimia Nervosa ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Body Size Estimation

scholarly journals The link between anxiety and assessment of body attitudes and body size estimation in anorexia nervosa

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 204380872199763
Author(s):  
Birgit Hasenack ◽  
Lot Sternheim ◽  
Jojanneke Bijsterbosch ◽  
Anouk Keizer
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Body Size ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Body Representation ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Visual Estimation ◽  
Estimation Task ◽  
Body Attitude ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Body Size Estimation

Although body size estimation (BSE) tasks are frequently used to investigate distorted body representation in anorexia nervosa (AN), the link between anxiety and task performance has been overlooked. To investigate this, 30 female healthy controls (HCs) and 29 female AN patients completed two body attitude questionnaires and three BSE tasks (the Visual Estimation Task, the Tactile Estimation Task and the Hoop Task). Participants completed two body attitude questionnaires and three BSE tasks; the Visual Estimation Task, the Tactile Estimation Task, and the Hoop Task. The STAI-6 was administered before and after each body-related task to assess state anxiety. Results showed that state anxiety levels increased significantly more in AN patients than in HC after completing each task. Thus, performance of AN patients on BSE and other body-related tasks might not just indicate the (mis)perception of their body but also co-occur with increased state anxiety. This has implications for the interpretation of these tasks and for furthering our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie distorted body image in AN.

Body Size Estimation in Anorexia Nervosa

1988 ◽  
Vol 153 (S2) ◽  
pp. 23-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Whitehouse ◽  
Christopher P. L. Freeman ◽  
Annette Annandale
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Normal Weight ◽  
The Body ◽  
Size Perception ◽  
Size Estimation ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Body Size Perception ◽  
Body Size Estimation

Clinicians who deal with patients with anorexia nervosa are well acquainted with their patients' inability to recognise their emaciation. The patients' insistence that they are normal weight or even overweight, against clear evidence to the contrary, led Bruch (1962) to state that the misperception reaches “delusional proportions”. Studies of body size perception in anorexia nervosa that have used the ‘body part’ method have invariably found that the patients overestimate their body size (Slade & Russell, 1973; Crisp & Kalucy, 1974; Pierloot & Houben, 1978; Garner et al, 1976; Button et al, 1977; Fries, 1977; Casper et al, 1979) but the majority have not found any significant difference in size estimation between patients and controls (Slade, 1985).

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