Chapter 1: Payoffs and Consequences

In Chapter 1, Shirley Simon tells us a little about behaviorist psychology.  "Behaviorist psychology," she explains, "says that we are what we are and we do what we do mainly because we have learned to behave in certain ways.  We eat the way we do because we have learned to eat that way" (12).  What does that mean? Well, it's really a matter of common sense, if you think about it. 

Humans are learning machines. From the moment we hit the world of air and light, we are learning, and we don't stop until the last gasp. We have a variety of ways of learning how to survive and thrive in the world, some trial-and-error, some watching and imitating, some reading and thinking. We act and then something happens; what we learn depends on what results from our actions.

As the behaviorist sees it, the lessons that stick are the ones that are reinforced--we get a payoff of some kind, whether negative or positive.
 
For example, when you're a small child exploring your world, you might come across a hot stove, put your hand on it and come away with a painful burn.  Instant lesson!  In the future, you'll avoid touching a hot stove.  Your behavior has been modified by that experience.

As Shirley says, "we learn to do those things that have good consequences and learn not to do those things that have bad consequences" (14).  But what are good and what are bad consequences?  The individual decides, and not always in her best interest.

For instance, eating some chocolate might have the good consequences of making me feel good.  (The chemicals in chocolate have that effect, I've been told.)  And that will make me want to eat chocolate in the future, to get that payoff.  My behavior has been positively reinforced.

Or suppose I make a loaf of my banana bread and take it to work.  When people eat it, they praise me, tell me it's good.  I feel good as a result of that approval.  So I'll want to make more loaves of bread to take to work in the future.  (Of course, there's the added benefit of getting to eat some of it myself.)

But how often can I eat chocolate or bake banana bread before people start to wonder about me?  Going after the payoff reaches a limit at some point.  It's alright to eat chocolate on Valentine's Day, when I've  been given a box of chocolates.  But I can't eat six boxes of chocolates, even on Valentine's Day, without prompting worry or disapproval from those around me (negative consequences). 

There's a limit to socially acceptable chocolate eating, it seems, just as there's a limit to how many times I can bake banana bread and bring it to work, no matter how much people might enjoy it. Pass that limit and formerly good consequences (approval) turn into bad consequences (disapproval).

So what to do?  How to achieve the good payoff and avoid the bad?  By finding socially acceptable reasons to eat, of course.  For most food addicts, that's not a problem, as Shirley Simon reveals in Chapter 2: The Subterfuges of Fat.