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Summary eating behaviour psychology AQA alevel
an indepth and easily read summary of all of the content for eatint behaviour in psychology aqa alevel
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EATING BEHAVIOUR NOTESEVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATIONS FOR FOOD PREFERENCE AO1
- FOOD PREFERENCES- is due to adaptive changes that made our ancestors gain an advantage
- SUGAR- high energy food, babies have a preference in fructose which is sugary
- SALT- essential for cell function, infants aged 16 to 25 weeks who had been breastfed prefer
salted cereal
- FATS- energy for survival
- NEOPHOBIA- the fear of new foods/unfamiliar foods. This stops you consuming foods that
will make you sick or ill. Diminishes when we learn specific foods wont poison or make us ill
- TASTE AVERSION- tastes we avoid eg bitter + sweet= bad food/ not ripe so avoid
EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATIONS FOR FOOD PREFERENCE AO3
STRENGTH
- Research support
- Susan Tores et al reviewed studies into the link between stress and eating behaviour
- She concluded humans have an increased tendency to prefer high fat foods
- Evolved mechanism that helps us cope with stress as it creates greater demands for energy
- Increased fat preference during tties of stress supports the view that preferences are
important for survival
STRENGTH
- Research support from Gibson and Wardle
- Believed the best way to predict the preferred fruit and veg of a 4 or 5 year old was to
choose based on calorie density
- The children preferred bananas and potatoes compared to sweet fruits
- Supports the theory and supports that babies will eat fats for energy
LIMITATION
- It takes a biologically reductionist approach
- Evolutionary explanations assume preference is due to evolution and survival so fails to
consider other factors
- Eating behaviour and food preferences are very complex and by reducing them down to just
evolutionary influences means we miss important factors
- By not taking an holistic approach this theory could be better to validate and understand
eating behaviour and choices
LEARNING EXPLANATIONS FOR FOOD PREFERENCE AO1
- CLASSICAL CONDITIONING- flavour- flavour learning, we develop a preference for a new
food as we associate it with a flavour we already like, due to innate preference for
sweetness we can learn to like foods by sweetening them so eventually learn to like them
individually
- OPERANT CONDITIONING- children directly reinforced for food preferences by parents and
siblings, theyll provide a reward for eating certain foods, which can be proven difficult
therefore classical conditioning is more powerful
, - SOCIAL INFLUENCE- children gain food preferences off role models they observe eating
certain foods eg family (strong influence) peer influences (childrens food preferences can
change dependant on what the child next to them always eats) and the media (as you grow
up become less dependant on parents and start following the media which encourages
diets)
- CULTURAL INFLUENCES- families eatintg patterns can influence the child, ideals and norms
within a culture, which part of the meat is normalised to eat eg UK eat all parts and food
patterns due to cultural tradition eg fasting
LEARNING EXPLANATIONS FOR FOOD PREFERENCE AO3
LIMITATION
- Gender bias
- Most studies for eating behaviour are done on women
- It doesn't consider how society expect men to be muscular and how these attitudes can
impact male attitudes towards food and body image
- Siever found homosexuality is a risk factor in men for developing disordered eating attitudes
and behaviours
- Factors arent considered in a lot of research so cannot be generalised and we do not have
enough research on male eating behaviour
STRENGTH
- Research support for cultural influences
- Big change in western society which has increased food availability outside the home
- This can be used to explain the decline in family meals and home cooked meals
- 46% of spending on food in the USA goes on food eaten in places other than the home which
is further strengthened by Just eat and Uber eats
- The research supports how cultures are changing and how this affects eatng patterns and
food preferences
STRENGTH
- Real life research for vicarious learning
- Western images and videos were taken to fiji which resulted in a rise of disorders eg bulimia
- Strength because fiji was a nation that preferred a fuller looking figure on a female which
shows how seeing other body types can influence self body image
- Furthermore 38 months after this went out on TV ms becker found 74% of girls felt too fat
- The research supports classic al and operant conditioning for eating behaviours as fiji seeing
western images led to an increase in disorders
NEURAL AND HORMONAL MECHANISMS IN THE CONTROL OF EATING BEHAVIOUR
Eating Increases blood Hunger off switch Satiety/ feeling full
glucose (ventromedial
hypothalamus
👉 👉 activates)
👉 👇
Hunger Hunger on switch Decreases blood Eating stops (Start
(lateral hypothalamus glucose here)
activates)
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