Date of Award
12-1-2017
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Behavior Analysis and Therapy
First Advisor
Dixon, Mark
Abstract
The present study used healthy questionnaires to evaluate the compounding effects of weight loss and weight gain in choosing to exercise. The questionnaire was distributed to 31 participants via social media outlets. Demographic information was also recorded such as height, weight, ethnicity, and income. The height and weight recorded was used to correlate the BMI with the AUC values. This data did not show a strong correlation between body mass index with high or low AUC values, these values were evenly distributed between underweight, normal/average weight, and overweight participants. . The questionnaires designed to assess how people view exercise and to determine if there is a pattern with sequencing delays with the calculated switch point and AUC. Statistical and visual analyses were conducted at the group and participant level. The switch points, were documented from each delay and was calculated to determine the compounding sequence that was preferred from each participant. The results from the study indicated that participants chose to exercise immediately within the first day, when the consequence was to lose weight. The results for the gain condition indicated that participants would gain weight instead of exercise, to a certain limit (100 days), when they chose to then engage in exercise behavior regularly. The conclusion of this study shows that the longer the delay the less valued the outcome is. This is important when understanding the obesity epidemic within the United States.
Access
This thesis is Open Access and may be downloaded by anyone.