1aim
- to investigate whether problems in judging body actions, such as deciding whether a body fits through a space, occurred only when judging ones own body or whether it was an overall judgement problem
- would people with AN be different from a control group in judging whether a gap was large enough for their body to pass through
2sample
- 50 young female ppts took part
- 25 from an eating disorder clinic
- 25 healthy controls
- all students from Lille, France
- controls had BMI of between 18.5 and 25
3method
- ppts matched for age + education
- they checked that there were no perceptual problems
- checked that AN patients fulfilled DSM-IV-R criteria for diagnosis
- psychiatrist carried out an interview to check there were no co-morbilities
4procedure
- assessments of height, shoulder width and weight were standardised
- measured changes over time in nutritional status by looking at weight before disorder, 6mo before study and at time of study
- gathered data about body dissatisfaction and concern about weight using questionnaires (body shape questionnaire)
5experimental procedure
- 51 different openings from 30cm to 80cm were projected on wall in random order, each opening was presented 4 times - looked like a door
- 2 conditions
- first person perspective - ppts judged whether own body would fit through opening, at normal speed without turning sideways
- third person perspective - ppts had to judge experimenter going through opening
6results
- AN group showed significant overestimation of their own body size
- AN group much more accurate in perceiving experimenter
- those with AN rated own body differently to how they rated experimenter and how controls rated their own
7conclusion
AN patients have not adapted their internal body image to consider their 'new' body size after developing the disorder. Their brains still perceive their bodies to be larger despite the visual information contradicting this.
8Reliability
- standardised procedures
9Internal Validity (g)
- heavy controls
10internal V (b)
- control group differed in physical measures - shoulder width and BMI
- closer in weight to experimenter
11Mundane realism
- too controlled, unrealistic reflection of real life perceiving openings
12ecological validity
- increased using a projection that reached the floor to look like a door
13generalisability
- sample only includes female participants from Lille in France
15essay plan (20)
- aim + general outline
- sample
- procedure
- procedure
- procedure
- results
- conclusion / application - despite weakness in, overall useful applications ton