Competitive eating, or speed eating, is a sport that is all about food. Success in the sport requires efficiency, which is a combination of capacity — eating a lot of food — and speed-eating it fast. Contests are typically eight to 10 minutes long, with the person consuming the most food declared the winner. Current professional eating contests can offer $10,000 or more in prize money. Traditionally, eating contests (usually involving children eating pies) were county fair events. The recent rise in popularity of competitive eating is largely due to the growth over almost 100 years of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, an annual Independence Day tradition at Coney Island, New York. The event generates enormous media attention and has been aired on major sports channels. Many commentators believe the Nathan’s contest has had a direct impact on the development of competitive eating as a sport. Surprisingly, restaurant hosts don’t always make a lot of money on contest days, as contestants tend to eat more food than their entry fee would purchase. Money is only part of the reason that contests primarily use fast food, though. “Restaurants would go out of business with a steak eating contest,” says Peter “Wingman” McDermott, prize-winning speed eater. “Hot dogs and wings are familiar and don’t break the bank.” But what is it that motivates contestants like Peter to eat those hot dogs and wings? “A lot of speed eaters I know were never big athletes in high school and are just looking for a really fast way to get on TV. I started out that way,” he said. “But now I definitely make sure to stay healthy. This isn’t something an unhealthy person wants to start doing.” McDermott appreciates that he can have a life outside his “sport,” as “the competition is over almost as soon as it started. Eaters can compete and still have most of their day left.” Speed eating is increasingly regulated by the kinds of organizations familiar in much bigger sports, like football and hockey. The International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) hosts more than 100 "Major League Eating" (MLE) events worldwide each year and first established eating as a sport in the 1990s. IFOCE licenses MLE t-shirts and other products and features the most current videos of contests and competitors. IFOCE is also the only organization with extensive safety regulations for events. A smaller organized league, the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters (AICE), established by competitive eater Arnie "Chowhound" Chapman, also holds contests. Chapman was a former IFOCE member who left to form an independent league after disputes over IFOCE contracts. Question The passage suggests that which two of the following statements are true about restaurants involved in competitive eating contests? They make a lot of money during the contest. They invest a substantial amount of money in sponsoring the contests. They want to showcase their particular menu choices. They want to increase public awareness of their brand name. They must be approved by an international sports organization.

How can people participate in hot dog eating contests without getting  ?  Even eating a single hot dog gives me gas!  Maybe it's the onions . . .Word Bank:euphoriadysphoriaeuphemismsonorousdyspepsiadystopiantumultgadflyeuphonydysfunctionaleuthanasiadiscordant

Which of the following is needed for an economic contest or tournament to be an effective incentive mechanism that motivates high work effort?1 pointA clear pay-for-performance program that rewards each worker's effort.A known prize that is large enough to compensate for extra effort.Insurance against excessive income loss.

Researchers conducted a pair of studies to explore how rewards influence motivation and weight loss for those who are overweight or obese.For Study 1, 20 overweight and 20 average-weight adults were invited to play a computer game consisting of a simple matching task in which participants earned a reward for getting multiple correct responses.  Participants were allowed to select their own reward:  Either $1.00 or a 200-calorie vending machine snack (valued at $1.00), such as a candy bar or bag of chips.  For the first trial, participants were rewarded on an average of three correct responses (AVG3).  Participants were then asked to choose between the food and monetary rewards.  When a food reward was selected, the average number of correct responses required to earn the next reward doubled, but when a monetary reward was selected, the average number of correct responses required to earn the next reward remained the same (Figure 1).  Results indicated that although there was no significant difference between the groups with regard to baseline self-reporting of hunger prior to the start of the computer tasks, overweight participants were five times more likely to choose the food rewards than average-weight participants.Figure 1  Study 1 reward scheduleFor Study 2, obese participants were recruited for a 16-week weight-loss study and randomly assigned to one of two groups:  A control group (n = 32) or an experimental group (n = 35).  Control participants engaged in weekly weigh-ins only.  Experimental participants engaged in weekly weigh-ins but also earned or lost money (put into an account and paid at the end of the study) based on their weigh-in goal, calculated each week based on current body mass index (BMI), age, and sex.  Those who reached their weekly weight goal earned $10; for each additional pound lost, participants earned another $10, up to $50/week.  Participants in the experimental group who did not meet or exceed their weekly weight goal had $20 deducted from their accounts.  No significant differences were found in baseline variables for either group; however, members of the control group lost an average of 5.9 pounds, whereas members of the experimental group lost an average of 18.1 pounds.B. E. Saelens and L. H. Epstein ©1996 Elsevier B.V. Question 8Which of the following most accurately reflects the reinforcement schedules used by Study 1 and the experimental group in Study 2, respectively?A.Variable ratio; variable intervalB.Variable ratio; fixed intervalC.Fixed ratio; variable intervalD.Fixed ratio; fixed interval

Researchers conducted a pair of studies to explore how rewards influence motivation and weight loss for those who are overweight or obese.For Study 1, 20 overweight and 20 average-weight adults were invited to play a computer game consisting of a simple matching task in which participants earned a reward for getting multiple correct responses.  Participants were allowed to select their own reward:  Either $1.00 or a 200-calorie vending machine snack (valued at $1.00), such as a candy bar or bag of chips.  For the first trial, participants were rewarded on an average of three correct responses (AVG3).  Participants were then asked to choose between the food and monetary rewards.  When a food reward was selected, the average number of correct responses required to earn the next reward doubled, but when a monetary reward was selected, the average number of correct responses required to earn the next reward remained the same (Figure 1).  Results indicated that although there was no significant difference between the groups with regard to baseline self-reporting of hunger prior to the start of the computer tasks, overweight participants were five times more likely to choose the food rewards than average-weight participants.Figure 1  Study 1 reward scheduleFor Study 2, obese participants were recruited for a 16-week weight-loss study and randomly assigned to one of two groups:  A control group (n = 32) or an experimental group (n = 35).  Control participants engaged in weekly weigh-ins only.  Experimental participants engaged in weekly weigh-ins but also earned or lost money (put into an account and paid at the end of the study) based on their weigh-in goal, calculated each week based on current body mass index (BMI), age, and sex.  Those who reached their weekly weight goal earned $10; for each additional pound lost, participants earned another $10, up to $50/week.  Participants in the experimental group who did not meet or exceed their weekly weight goal had $20 deducted from their accounts.  No significant differences were found in baseline variables for either group; however, members of the control group lost an average of 5.9 pounds, whereas members of the experimental group lost an average of 18.1 pounds.B. E. Saelens and L. H. Epstein ©1996 Elsevier B.V. Question 10Both studies use which of the following?A.Primary reinforcementB.Secondary reinforcementC.Primary punishmentD.Secondary punishmen

Researchers conducted a pair of studies to explore how rewards influence motivation and weight loss for those who are overweight or obese.For Study 1, 20 overweight and 20 average-weight adults were invited to play a computer game consisting of a simple matching task in which participants earned a reward for getting multiple correct responses.  Participants were allowed to select their own reward:  Either $1.00 or a 200-calorie vending machine snack (valued at $1.00), such as a candy bar or bag of chips.  For the first trial, participants were rewarded on an average of three correct responses (AVG3).  Participants were then asked to choose between the food and monetary rewards.  When a food reward was selected, the average number of correct responses required to earn the next reward doubled, but when a monetary reward was selected, the average number of correct responses required to earn the next reward remained the same (Figure 1).  Results indicated that although there was no significant difference between the groups with regard to baseline self-reporting of hunger prior to the start of the computer tasks, overweight participants were five times more likely to choose the food rewards than average-weight participants.Figure 1  Study 1 reward scheduleFor Study 2, obese participants were recruited for a 16-week weight-loss study and randomly assigned to one of two groups:  A control group (n = 32) or an experimental group (n = 35).  Control participants engaged in weekly weigh-ins only.  Experimental participants engaged in weekly weigh-ins but also earned or lost money (put into an account and paid at the end of the study) based on their weigh-in goal, calculated each week based on current body mass index (BMI), age, and sex.  Those who reached their weekly weight goal earned $10; for each additional pound lost, participants earned another $10, up to $50/week.  Participants in the experimental group who did not meet or exceed their weekly weight goal had $20 deducted from their accounts.  No significant differences were found in baseline variables for either group; however, members of the control group lost an average of 5.9 pounds, whereas members of the experimental group lost an average of 18.1 pounds.B. E. Saelens and L. H. Epstein ©1996 Elsevier B.V. Question 12The participants' motivational state:A.was controlled for in Study 1 using self-report measures.B.was used to assign participants into groups in Study 2.C.appears to have been higher in the experimental group in Study 1.D.appears to have been correlated to BMI in Study 2.