Externality in the nonobese: effects of environmental responsiveness on weight

The study considered whether external responsiveness in normal weight people would predict changes in eating behavior and weight following major alteration of environmetnal food cues. Normal weight children were tested for externality on measures of eating, slide recall, and extremity of affective responsiveness during the first week of a summer camp, and were weighed biweekly thereafter. There was a significant correlation between externality and weight change, indicating that the more externally responsive the children were, the more weight they gained. The implications of this finding for theories about the development of obesity were considered.