The effect of food deprivation on the reinforcing value of food and smoking in bulimic and control women.

The reinforcing value of both food and cigarettes was examined in female smokers with and without bulimia nervosa. Subjects underwent two food-deprivation (18 h) and two nondeprivation conditions and worked for either food vs. money or cigarettes vs. money on concurrent progressive variable ratio schedules. Schedules for food/cigarettes increased progressively while schedules for money remained the same. Results indicated no differences in the amount of time subjects spent working for food or the number of points earned for food in either bulimics or controls when examining the entire eight-game trial. Results of the initial two-game trial indicated marked differences, with the reinforcing value of food increasing after deprivation in control but not bulimic women and the total amount of time spent working for cigarettes increased after deprivation in controls. These results highlight that the effects of experimental food deprivation are most salient immediately after the deprivation and at low unit prices, and that bulimic and control women respond differently to a food-deprivation paradigm.