The Effect of Removing Visual Prompts that Signal Satiety on Total Consumption
Overeating, a direct catalyst to obesity is somewhat of a new phenomenon. It is crucial to understand the various agents that lead individuals to overeat. Many factors play prominent roles in why people overeat such as external food cues, impulsivity, as well as an inability to self-monitor. The present study investigated whether the elimination of visual cues to eating cessation affected total consumption. A refillable bowl of soup served as an elimination of the dominant external cue of an empty bowl, thereby failing to indicate cessation. Eighty-four participants (70.2% male) from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana were recruited to participate. Individuals in the treatment group consumed significantly more soup than the control group, however individuals in the control group perceived to consume significantly more on average than those in the treatment group. Future research should focus on the power of learned response, teaching individuals to reference internal cues while disregarding external ones.
School:
San Diego State University
Department:
Business Administration
Research Advisor:
Brian Wansink
Department of Research Advisor:
Business Administration
Year of Publication:
2003