Comparison and Contrast in College

The following is an excerpt from the textbook Discovering Psychology, Fifth Edition.

Don Hockenbury and Sandra Hockenbury

CRITICAL
READING

  • Preview
  • Read
  • Pause
  • Review

(See “Critical Reading” in Chapter 1)

GUIDING QUESTION

How are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa both alike and different?

VOCABULARY

The following words are italicized in the excerpt: distorted, perception, emaciated, perfectionism, purging, preoccupation, compensates. If you do not know their meanings, look them up in a dictionary or online.

PAUSE: Note the four key features of anorexia.

1

Anorexia nervosa is life-threatening weight loss. Four key features define anorexia nervosa: First, the person refuses to maintain a normal body weight. With a body weight that is 15 percent or more below normal, body mass index can drop to 12 or lower. Second, despite being dangerously underweight, the person with anorexia is intensely afraid of gaining weight or becoming fat. Third, the anorexic has a distorted perception about the size of his or her body. Although emaciated, he or she looks in the mirror and sees someone fat or obese. And fourth, an anorexic denies the seriousness of his or her weight loss (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000).

2

Perfectionism and rigid thinking, poor peer relations, social isolation, and low self-esteem are common (Halmi et al., 2000). Although estimates vary, approximately 10 percent of people with anorexia nervosa die from starvation, suicide, or physical complications accompanying extreme weight loss (APA, 2000; Kaye, Klump, Frank, and Strober, 2000).

PAUSE: How is bulimia similar to anorexia? How is it different?

3

Bulimia nervosa is bingeing and purging of food. Like people with anorexia, people with bulimia nervosa fear gaining weight. Intense preoccupation and dissatisfaction with their bodies are also apparent. However, people with bulimia stay within a normal weight range or may even be slightly overweight. Another difference is that people with bulimia usually recognize that they have an eating disorder.

4

People with bulimia nervosa experience extreme episodes of binge eating, consuming as many as 50,000 calories in a single binge. Binges typically occur twice a week and are often triggered by negative feelings or hunger (Agras & Apple, 1997). During the binge, the person usually consumes sweet, high-calorie foods that can be swallowed quickly, such as ice cream, cake, and candy. Binges typically occur in secrecy, leaving the person feeling ashamed, guilty, and disgusted by his or her own behavior. After bingeing, the bulimic compensates by purging him- or herself of the excessive food by self-induced vomiting or by misuse of laxatives or enemas. After purging, he or she often feels psychologically relieved. Some people with bulimia do not purge themselves of the excess food. Rather, they use fasting and excessive exercise to keep their body weight within the normal range (APA, 2000).

The documentation system used here is that of the American Psychological Association because the excerpt is from a psychology text. For English classes, use the MLA style (see Chapter 14).

References

Agras, W. S., & Apple, R. F. (1997). Overcoming eating disorders: A cognitive-behavioral treatment for bulimia nervosa and binge-eating. San Antonio, TX: Harcourt Brace.

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Practice guidelines for the treatment of patients with eating disorders (revision). American Journal of Psychiatry, 157 (Suppl.), 1–39.

Halmi, K. A., Sunday, S. R., Strober, M., Kaplan, A., Woodside, D. B., Fichter, M., Treasure, J., . . . Kaye, W. H. (2000). Perfectionism in anorexia nervosa: Variation by clinical subtype, obsessionality, and pathological eating behavior. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 1799–1805.

Kaye, W. H., Klump, K. L., Frank, G. K., & Strober, M. (2000). Anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Annual Review of Medicine, 51, 299–313.

CRITICAL
THINKING

  • Summarize
  • Analyze
  • Synthesize
  • Evaluate

  1. Question

    Summarize. Briefly summarize the text excerpt, including the conditions being compared or contrasted, the authors’ purpose, and some of the points of comparison or contrast.

  2. Question

    Analyze. Is the excerpt organized point by point or whole to whole? Why do you think there is no formal introduction or conclusion? If there were an introduction, what information might it include? If you were writing a concluding paragraph, what would you say? What might a good title be?

  3. Question

    Synthesize. Do you know anyone who has an eating disorder such as those described? What behaviors or characteristics have you noticed about the person or people?

  4. Question

    Evaluate. Does the excerpt have the Four Basics of Good Comparison and Contrast (see “Understand What Comparison and Contrast Are”)? Do the authors achieve their purpose?
[Leave] [Close]