What Can Be Learned from Body Size Estimation? It All Depends on Your Theory

Abstract

Abstract Body size estimation, once regarded as a sophisticated approach to the investigation of body image disturbance in eating disorders, appears to have fallen into disrepute. A frequent criticism relates to the difficulty of interpreting body size overestimation. We argue that this difficulty originates in the inappropriate notions about perception investigators have held on to. In this article, these notions are reconstructed from the literature and are shown to be inconsistent with research findings. The implicit models of perception that characterize body size estimation are evaluated against the background of theoretical developments in cognitive psychology. It is argued that the “bottom-up” model that has been implicitly subscribed to is both uneconomical as a research strategy and incapable of explaining the phenomenon of body image disturbance. A “top-down” model of perception is advocated instead.