Weight bias and weight loss treatment outcomes in treatment-seeking adults.

Background: Few studies have explored the relationship between weight bias and weight loss treatment outcomes.

Purpose: This investigation examined the relationship between implicit and explicit weight bias and (a) program attrition, (b) weight loss, (c) self-monitoring adherence, (d) daily exercise levels and overall caloric expenditure, (e) daily caloric intake, and (f) daily caloric deficit among overweight/obese treatment-seeking adults.

Methods: Forty-six overweight/obese adults (body mass index > or = 27 kg/m(2)) participating in an 18-week, stepped-care, behavioral weight loss program completed implicit and explicit measures of weight bias.

Can following the caloric restriction recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans help individuals lose weight?

Background: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend creating an energy deficit of at least 500 kcal a day to facilitate weight loss. This investigation examined the relationship between creating a consistent, self-reported energy deficit of at least 500 kcal a day and weight loss. The relationship between self-monitoring adherence and daily energy intake and expenditure and weight loss was also examined.

Skipping meals and alcohol consumption. The regulation of energy intake and expenditure among weight loss participants.

Research suggests that specific eating patterns (e.g., eating breakfast) may be related to favorable weight status.

Learning to perceive differences in solid shape through vision and touch.

A single experiment was designed to investigate perceptual learning and the discrimination of 3-D object shape. Ninety-six observers were presented with naturally shaped solid objects either visually, haptically, or across the modalities of vision and touch. The observers' task was to judge whether the two sequentially presented objects on any given trial possessed the same or different 3-D shapes.

Taking control of your personal eating and exercise environment: a weight maintenance program.

The current investigation examined the impact of a weight maintenance intervention (MI) designed to empower people to create a personal healthy food and physical activity environment on weight loss treatment outcomes. It was hypothesized that behavioral weight loss program (BWLP) participants who received an additional MI would evidence superior weight loss maintenance compared to participants who received a BWLP alone (no contact [NC]). Fifty-one obese adults were randomly assigned to participate in a 16-week weight loss intervention followed by NC or a 6-week MI.

Aging and the perception of 3-D shape from dynamic patterns of binocular disparity.

In two experiments, we investigated the ability of younger and older observers to perceive and discriminate 3-D shape from static and dynamic patterns of binocular disparity. In both experiments, the younger observers' discrimination accuracies were 20% higher than those of the older observers. Despite this quantitative difference, in all other respects the older observers performed similarly to the younger observers.

The perception of distances and spatial relationships in natural outdoor environments.

The ability of observers to perceive distances and spatial relationships in outdoor environments was investigated in two experiments. In experiment 1, the observers adjusted triangular configurations to appear equilateral, while in experiment 2, they adjusted the depth of triangles to match their base width. The results of both experiments revealed that there are large individual differences in how observers perceive distances in outdoor settings.

Visual discrimination of local surface structure: slant, tilt, and curvedness.

In four experiments, observers were required to discriminate interval or ordinal differences in slant, tilt, or curvedness between designated probe points on randomly shaped curved surfaces defined by shading, texture, and binocular disparity. The results reveal that discrimination thresholds for judgments of slant or tilt typically range between 4 degrees and 10 degrees; that judgments of one component are unaffected by simultaneous variations in the other; and that the individual thresholds for either the slant or tilt components of orientation are approximately equal to those obtained for judgments of the total orientation difference between two probed regions. Performance was much worse, however, for judgments of curvedness, and these judgments were significantly impaired when there were simultaneous variations in the shape index parameter of curvature.

Aging and the perception of depth and 3-D shape from motion parallax.

The ability of younger and older observers to perceive 3-D shape and depth from motion parallax was investigated. In Experiment 1, the observers discriminated among differently curved 3-dimensional (3-D) surfaces in the presence of noise. In Experiment 2, the surfaces' shape was held constant and the amount of front-to-back depth was varied; the observers estimated the amount of depth they perceived.