EFFECTS OF DEPRIVATION LEVEL ON HUMANS SELF-CONTROL FOR FOOD REINFORCERS

Deprivation level was manipulated in fourteen food- and water-deprived adult human females to examine its effects on self-control for food ( choice of larger, more delayed access to apple juice over smaller, les s delayed access to apple juice). Each subject was exposed to two trea tments: (1) consumption of a 500 g tomato soup preload just prior to s elf-control testing and (2) no soup preload. When subjects had consume d soup, they reported significantly less hunger and showed significant ly more self-control as compared to when not having consumed soup. Add itionally, when subjects had consumed soup, self-control decreased as a function of session time. Subjects who reported that they were curre ntly dieting drank significantly less juice when they had previously c onsumed soup than when they had not previously consumed soup. Together , the results indicate that when subjects are more deprived they may b e less able to wait for food reinforcers (i.e., show less self-control ). Such behavior may be adaptive in situations in which energy is need ed to survive periods of food scarcity. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limite d.