Biologist also suggests that eating disorders can be entirely controlled by genetic inheritance. For instant if a mother had an eating disorder and her child had the same disorder, it is said to be inherited. There are also biochemical’s explanations for eating disorders. It is focused on the region of the brain, which is hypothalamus. Hypothalamus is an organ found below the thalamus in the brain. The main points from the document that I read, states that behaviourist believe that all mental/eating disorders, are learnt through our social interactions. Behaviourists are interested mainly in human and animal behaviour in different situations. The ideas are a form of environmental factors that causes eating disorder, which strongly supports the nurture debate. Behaviorists also suggest there are three ways of learning; it is also know as conditioning. There are classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning theory. Classical conditioning is when we learn through interactions of the environment.
Operant conditioning is basically learning from consequences that other people are doing to you. It is an interaction between two people.
Social learning theory is the imitation of the behaviour that our role models have been rewarded for and simply seeking for that reward too. The nature debate and the nurture debate on eating disorders explains the main points and ideas to a certain degree. I would now evaluate both ideas in terms of their strengths and weaknesses include the reasoning of how far the argument from both documents explains eating disorders
The media promotes the message that being slim is associated with beauty; therefore behaviourist suggest that, people want to feel and look beautiful so they put the act of having an eating disorder into practice.
Through researches, they have been findings that suggest that people behave in the way they do in terms of the reward and punishment they may get from their actions. For example, if you touch something hot and it burns you, then it’s natural that you will learn from the punishment and not practice such again.
“Hill cites children playing with Sindy as a cause of eating disorder“. The behaviourist suggests that these children were bought the model toy called Sindy. This evidence shows that role models can easily influence the children and a Sindy is made to be beautiful, slim and it looks almost anorexic. The children will therefore behave in what they have observed from watching/playing with the dolls. There will show an automatic response to the media. This then causes them to suffer from anorexia or bulimia. However it is also suggested that women form different countries may react differently to the media determining on how the society they live in is. (Nasser 1986)
The biological explanation is very realistic; however there are not have enough evidence to support the cause of eating disorders. Positively, the idea that eating disorders are formed because of genetic reason and abnormalities in the structure of the brain, allows those who suffer from eating disorders to not feel responsible for their predicament, they are more likely to be seen as victims, so therefore this aspect of the debate would make them feel that there are not to blame.
