Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Choice Behavior”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,207 records · Page 67Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

A brief office intervention is associated with improved health measures.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for adults in developed countries. Many risk factors responsible for the development of cardiovascular disease are associated with behavior. We studied whether encouraging patients to be accountable for their own lifestyle choices would lead to improvements in subjective and objective health measures in 26 consecutive general cardiology clinic patients. Our hypothesis was, that after a simple brief cardiologist-initiated motivational discussion during a routine general cardiology clinic visit that included a weight loss "contract" signed by the patient, physician and a witness, patients would be more likely to lose weight or to remain the same weight as compared to historical controls. We found that intervention patients were more likely to lose weight or to remain the same weight, (p<0.01).

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Individual differences in novelty seeking on the playground maze predict amphetamine conditioned place preference.

Previous research has shown that a rat's level of activity in a novel environment can predict the strength of amphetamine-induced locomotor behavior and self-administration, but not amphetamine-conditioned place preference. The increase in activity observed when a rat is exposed to an inescapable novel environment may reflect escape behavior due to stress. To assess approach to novelty in a free-choice test, we examined the ability of a new test, the playground maze, to predict individual differences in response to amphetamine (1 or 3 mg/kg). Using the playground maze to categorize rats as either high or low novelty seekers, it was found that individual differences in novelty seeking did not predict amphetamine-induced changes in locomotor activity following either a single or repeated injections. However, high novelty seekers showed greater amphetamine-conditioned place preference than low novelty seekers. These results provide support for the hypothesis that novelty seeking and drug reward are neuropharmacologically related.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed2005

The effects of direction and movement of attractors on users' behavior in virtual environments.

Despite fast technological developments in virtual reality (VR), methodologies and guidelines for evaluating the design of virtual environments (VEs) are lacking. The theory of perceptual opportunities (POs) has previously been proposed as a basis of such a design methodology. This paper presents an empirical study investigating the effect of representation of POs on users' behavior in VEs. The effects of both direction and movement of attractor on choice of objects in a simple VE were studied. Results showed that vertical static attractors were chosen least frequently. Furthermore, there was an effect of direction for static attractors in favor of the take-off direction. Implications for VE design in the framework of POs are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Sensitive period for neural and behavioral response development to learned odors.

Olfactory preference training early in life produces both a behavioral preference and an enhanced uptake of 2-deoxy-[14C]glucose (2-DG) in specific areas of the olfactory bulb glomerular layer. We now describe a sensitive period during the first week after birth for the development both of the enhanced neural response and the behavioral preference.

Aging↗
PubMed2002

Dietary behaviors associated with total fat and saturated fat intake.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate percentages of US adults who have adopted behaviors promoted by dietary guidance about how to reduce fat intake, and to assess relationships between these behaviors and intake of energy from total and saturated fat. DESIGN: Relationships were examined between intake of total and saturated fat from two 24-hour recalls in the US Department of Agriculture's 1994-1996 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals and responses to 19 fat-related behavior questions on the follow-up Diet and Health Knowledge Survey (DHKS). SUBJECTS: Data are from a national sample of 5,649 individuals 20 years of age and older. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Multiple regression models are used to identify dietary behaviors, demographic factors, and personal characteristics that are determinants of fat intake. RESULTS: In this study, the percentage of US adults who consistently followed the low-fat behaviors ranged from 8% to 70%. The most highly adopted behaviors (45% or more of adults) included trimming fat from meat, removing skin from chicken, and eating chips infrequently. The least highly adopted behaviors (15% or less of adults) included eating baked or boiled potatoes without added fat, avoiding butter or margarine on breads, eating low-fat instead of regular cheeses, and having fruit for dessert when dessert is eaten. Together, the 19 fat-related behavior questions on the DHKS formed a statistically significant predictor for total fat and saturated fat intake, expressed as a percent of energy (P<.0001). Key behaviors in terms of their predicted effect on lowering both total and saturated fat intake were never adding fat to baked or boiled potatoes, not eating red meats, eating less than 3 eggs per week, and never eating chicken fried. Predicted effects of these key behaviors in terms of lowering fat intake as a percentage of energy were > or = 1.5 percentage points for total fat and > or = 0.5 percentage point for saturated fat. CONCLUSIONS: Results have applications for designing brief fat assessment instruments and for identifying key nutrition education messages that promote important fat-lowering behaviors.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Weight loss and diet plans.

This article examines popular diet plans for weight loss and provides information about their efficacy. Diets covered include: very-low-calorie and low-calorie diets; low-fat and very-low-fat diets; moderate-fat, low-calorie diets; and low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets. The importance of portion size and behavioral change is also discussed.

Caloric Restriction↗
PubMed1980

The impact of personal preference on consistency through time: the case of childhood aggression.

The present experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that a child's activity preferences may predict subsequent changes in that child's aggression, since such preferences partly determine how children allocate their time to situations capable of making them more or less aggressive. Data from a 1-year longitudinal study reveal that (1) boys vary widely in the extent of their preference for aggression-conducive situations. (2) girls have low preference for such situations, and (3) preference has a strong impact on the development of aggression in boys who have not already become either very high or very low in aggression. This phenomenon provides an example of an interestng developmental pattern: Temporal stability in 1 personal characteristic (e.g., preference structure) can lead to directed transformation of another personal characteristic (e.g., typical interpersonal behavior).

Aggression↗
PubMed1996

Diet selection by chicks.

Seven experiments with 324 chicks tested their ability to select a nutritionally adequate diet from separate sources of purified casein and various supplements, including gelatin (a source of two amino acids), a gelatin-creatine mixture (a source of three amino acids), and fiber (nonnutritive bulk). Nonselecting controls consumed the basal purified-casein diet or a supplemented purified-casein diet. Chicks in all selection conditions composed diets that yielded normal intake, normal body temperature, normal activity, and the maximum growth possible for their intake. They also selected components in the same percentages as in premixed diets. In all instances, their selection was nonrandom and regulated. What chicks included in their diet depended on what else was available. Although the specific percentage taken from each dietary component varied across different selection alternatives, these differences affected neither intake nor growth. Selection, per se, incurred a caloric cost. Chicks selecting from fractions of a corn-and-soy diet offset this cost by increasing intake compensatorily, but chicks with a purified-casein fraction did not, suggesting that some unspecified property of casein placed a ceiling on its intake. These findings unequivocally demonstrate that immature chicks not only can self-select nutritionally adequate diets, but can do so with unexpected precision by exploiting different but equally successful strategies.

Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena↗
PubMed1980

Relationships among peers in kibbutz toddler groups.

Observations of toddlers in Israeli kibbutzim and interviews with their parents and caregivers, indicate that by the end of the first year the toddlers differentiate among the individual children in their residential groups. In addition, the first focused dyadic peer relationships emerge at about one year. Toddlers in focused peer relationships tend to be in the same bedroom in their group's children's house; to be responsive social partners in peer interactions; and to have parents who have formed relationships with the other child in the peer relationship or with that child's parents.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed2006

Self-handicapping prior to academic-oriented tasks in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): medication effects and comparisons with controls.

Examined self-handicapping prior to academic-oriented tasks in children with and without ADHD and examined whether stimulant medication influenced self-handicapping. Participants were 61 children ages 6 to 13, including 22 children with ADHD tested after taking a placebo, 21 children with ADHD tested after taking stimulant medication, and 18 non-ADHD controls. Participants completed three measures of self handicapping and also completed self-evaluations of their performance. Results showed greater self handicapping and more positive self-evaluations in children with ADHD than in controls regardless of medication condition. Findings suggest children with ADHD may use self handicapping to ameliorate the effects of experiencing high rates of academic failure.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Determinants of patient participation in clinical studies requiring informed consent: why patients enter a clinical trial.

In a survey on 26 clinical trials we have studied the reasons why some patients choose to participate in clinical trials while others decline. Interviews were held with 198 adult patients, just after they had been asked by the trial-clinician to participate. We interviewed patients who were asked to participate in a clinical trial, including those who decided not to participate. The theoretical guidelines to explain participation were based on an extended form of the Health Belief Model. Patients being asked to participate in a clinical trial decide by making a personal balance account. This comprises the physical and emotional added value patients hope to gain from the trial treatment compared to the non-trial treatment, minus the risks they expect in the trial and minus the extra time they expect the trial will take. The extent they feel physically threatened by their illness will also influence their decision. Furthermore, this personal balance account was found to depend on patient opinion about medical care and care-givers in general and on how patients regard their illness. Relatively long-term patients show a slightly different motivation to participate in a clinical trial than short-term patients. In line with the Health Belief Model, motivational beliefs on the relevance to reducing the threat to the patient's health condition ('values') and the evaluations of the clinical trial the patient is approached for ('expectancy'), are relevant in explaining patient behavior. Moreover, specific evaluative frames of reference are relevant in patients faced with the choice to participate or not. Suggestions are made to improve insight into patient motivation during the informed consent procedure of clinical trials.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Context-dependent modulation by D(1) receptors: differential effects in hippocampus and striatum.

Place-specific firing by hippocampal and striatal neurons was recorded simultaneously following injection of a D(1) receptor antagonist (SCH23390) and during spatial working memory task performance. SCH23390-induced changes in unit responses were observed during light and dark test conditions. Although hippocampal place field locations were altered by the contextual change, the reliability and specificity of place fields was disrupted only by combining D(1) antagonism and a change in context. Striatal place field locations were reorganized after either contextual change or D(1) antagonism, without altering place field reliability and specificity. Disrupted velocity encoding by place cells in both regions was induced by darkness, whereas greater stability in acceleration encoding followed removal of D(1) receptor activity. Dopamine may differentially regulate hippocampal context learning and striatum-based predictive codes.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed2003

Breakfast skipping and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents and adults.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate which sociodemographic factors and behaviors are associated with breakfast skipping in adolescents and adults. DESIGN: Five birth cohorts of adolescent twins and their parents received an extensive behavioral and medical self-report questionnaire that also assessed breakfast-eating frequency. SETTING: Finland, 1991-1995. SUBJECTS: A population sample of 16-y-old girls and boys (n=5448) and their parents (n=4660). RESULTS: Parental breakfast eating was the statistically most significant factor associated with adolescent breakfast eating. Smoking, infrequent exercise, a low education level at 16, female sex, frequent alcohol use, behavioral disinhibition, and high body mass index (BMI) were significantly associated with adolescent breakfast skipping. In adults, smoking, infrequent exercise, low education level, male sex, higher BMI, and more frequent alcohol use were associated with breakfast skipping. In the adult sample, older individuals had breakfast more often than younger ones. Both adults and adolescents who frequently skipped breakfast were much more likely to exercise very little compared to those who skipped breakfast infrequently. Breakfast skipping was associated with low family socioeconomic status in adults and adolescent boys, but not in girls. Breakfast skipping clustered moderately with smoking, alcohol use, and sedentary lifestyle in both adults and adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: Breakfast skipping is associated with health-compromising behaviors in adults and adolescents. Individuals and families who skip breakfast may benefit from preventive efforts that also address risk behaviors other than eating patterns. SPONSORSHIP: National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA08315), Academy of Finland (44069), European Union Fifth Framework Program (QLRT-1999-00916), Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation, and Jalmari and Rauha Ahokas Foundation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

'I drink spirits to get drunk and block out my problems...' beverage preference, drinking motives and alcohol use in adolescence.

AIMS: To investigate among adolescents whether (i) drinking motives are related to beverage preference; (ii) beverage preference is related to alcohol use (drinking levels and risky drinking occasions); (iii) the association between beverage preference and alcohol use is moderated or mediated by drinking motives. METHOD: Data from a national representative sample of 5379 8th-10th graders in Switzerland (mean age 15.1, SD = 0.95) were analysed using multiple regression analyses. Beverage preference was based on the proportion of a specific beverage in the total amount of drinks consumed at the last drinking occasion. Drinking motives were assessed by the drinking motive questionnaire revised (DMQ-R). RESULTS: A significant positive association was found between enhancement motives and a preference for beer and spirits; the association was negative with regard to a preference for wine and alcopops. Conformity motives were positively related to a wine preference but negatively to a beer preference. Only a preference for beer and spirits was significantly associated with alcohol use in models that exclude motives. However, the association between beer preference and adolescent alcohol use was mediated by drinking motives. A preference for alcopops and spirits was moderated by motives: social drinkers who preferred alcopops drank less than those who did not prefer alcopops. Coping drinkers who preferred spirits drank more than those who preferred other alcoholic drinks. CONCLUSIONS: Drinking motives are potential explanatory factors for the association between beverage preference and alcohol use. Prevention approaches should target coping motives, particularly for adolescents who show a preference for spirits.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The alcohol-preferring AA and alcohol-avoiding ANA rats: neurobiology of the regulation of alcohol drinking.

The AA (alko, alcohol) and ANA (alko, non-alcohol) rat lines were among the earliest rodent lines produced by bidirectional selection for ethanol preference. The purpose of this review is to highlight the strategies for understanding the neurobiological factors underlying differential alcohol-drinking behavior in these lines. Most early work evaluated functioning of the major neurotransmitter systems implicated in drug reward in the lines. No consistent line differences were found in the dopaminergic system either under baseline conditions or after ethanol challenges. However, increased opioidergic tone in the ventral striatum and a deficiency in endocannabinoid signaling in the prefrontal cortex of AA rats may comprise mechanisms leading to increased ethanol consumption. Because complex behaviors, such as ethanol drinking, are not likely to be controlled by single factors, system-oriented molecular-profiling strategies have been used recently. Microarray based expression analysis of AA and ANA brains and novel data-mining strategies provide a system biological view that allows us to formulate a hypothesis on the mechanism underlying selection for ethanol preference. Two main factors appear active in the selection: a recruitment of signal transduction networks, including mitogen-activated protein kinases and calcium pathways and involving transcription factors such as Creb, Myc and Max, to mediate ethanol reinforcement and plasticity. The second factor acts on the mitochondrion and most likely provides metabolic flexibility for alternative substrate utilization in the presence of low amounts of ethanol.

Alcohol Drinking↗