Summary Psychobiology of Food Choice and Eating Behaviour
Index
* Full article is part of study material
Week 1 .................................................................................................................................................... 3
Lecture 0 – General course introduction ................................................................................................ 3
Lecture 1 – Models of Food Choice ......................................................................................................... 3
Lecture 2 – Regulation of food and energy intake: the role of properties of food ............................... 13
1. Theories on short and long term intake ........................................................................................ 13
2. Three levels of research: satiety, energy intake, body weight ...................................................... 15
3. Properties of food ......................................................................................................................... 17
Week 2 .................................................................................................................................................. 32
Lecture 3 – Physiological Signals of Satiety ........................................................................................... 32
1. Role of physiological signals in satiety research............................................................................ 32
2. Physiological mechanisms ............................................................................................................. 33
3. Biological markers ......................................................................................................................... 37
4. Application – applied research question ....................................................................................... 42
Lecture 4 – Regulation of food and energy intake: the role of properties of food, part 2 ................... 44
4. Energy density and structure ........................................................................................................ 44
4. Texture, taste and eating rate ....................................................................................................... 49
5. Discussion ...................................................................................................................................... 54
Lecture 4 – Sensory Specific Satiety ...................................................................................................... 54
The phenomenon – Overview and examples .................................................................................... 54
The phenomenon – SSS compared to conditioned satiety (Booth) and alliesthesia (Cabanac) ....... 56
The phenomenon – Transfer effects ................................................................................................. 57
Individual differences – Age effects / Body weight effects ............................................................... 58
Relation with boredom and long term food intake .......................................................................... 60
Lecture 5 – Sensory and Learning Influences on Eating Behaviour ...................................................... 62
Nature vs Nurture.............................................................................................................................. 62
Major Learning Models ..................................................................................................................... 63
The Role of Motivation ...................................................................................................................... 66
When Learning Fails .......................................................................................................................... 68
Sensory Influences on Eating Behaviour ........................................................................................... 69
Olfactory cues.................................................................................................................................... 70
Week 3 .................................................................................................................................................. 75
Lecture 6 – Emotions, Food Choice and Eating Behaviour.................................................................... 75
Theories of emotion .......................................................................................................................... 75
1 Summary Psychobiology of Food Choice and Eating Behaviour
, Measurements of emotions and moods ........................................................................................... 79
Mechanisms by which foods alter emotions..................................................................................... 84
A five-way model: how emotions affect eating ................................................................................ 87
Examples; Emostudy and TDE-study ................................................................................................. 87
Lecture 7 – Memory, Food Choice and Eating Behaviour ..................................................................... 90
Memory ............................................................................................................................................. 90
Food-related memory ....................................................................................................................... 92
Memory and appetite regulation ...................................................................................................... 94
Instruments to measure food-related memory ................................................................................ 98
Week 4 ................................................................................................................................................ 100
Lecture 8 – Food Reward and Hedonic Eating .................................................................................... 100
Homeostatic and hedonic hunger/eating ....................................................................................... 100
Food Reward ................................................................................................................................... 103
Neurochemistry of food reward...................................................................................................... 105
Lecture 9 – Role of Context on Food Choice ....................................................................................... 112
Context ............................................................................................................................................ 112
Food environment – Five S’s and many others ............................................................................... 118
Awareness of contextual influences................................................................................................ 120
Week 6 ................................................................................................................................................ 121
Lecture 10 – Food Choice across the Life Span ................................................................................... 121
Childhood ........................................................................................................................................ 121
Adolescence .................................................................................................................................... 123
Mid-life ............................................................................................................................................ 125
Later life........................................................................................................................................... 125
Lecture 11 – Decision Making, Food Choice and Eating Behaviour .................................................... 130
2 Summary Psychobiology of Food Choice and Eating Behaviour
,Week 1
Lecture 0 – General course introduction
Aim of the course
After participation the student is able to…
• Describe and apply different models of food choice.
• Explain and interpret the influence of biological (satiety signals, physiology), psychological
(learning, memory, emotions, decision making), social (context and lifespan), and cultural
factors on food choice and nutrition behaviour.
• Appreciate, evaluate, summarise and discuss complex issues on the psychobiology of food
choice and eating behaviour, taking different perspectives on these issues into account (e.g.
scientific, consumer, healthcare, government, food industry).
• Design and program simple questionnaires and experimental tasks related to food choice,
using E-Prime ®.
Topics lectures
By the end of the course we have covered these topics…
• Models of food choice
• Appetite and satiety (biological markers)
• Learning and sensory influences on eating behaviour
• Emotions, memory and food choice
• Food reward and hedonic eating
• Role of context in food choice
• Food choices across the life span
• Decision making and food choice
Lecture 1 – Models of Food Choice
Now, look at this family in Guatemala with their
selection of foods for one week. If you ask a
nutritionist to give an explanation of why this
family choose these particular foods, you will likely
get a story in terms of a balanced diet serving our
nutritional needs, as well as our appetite and
preference (healthy, good tasting and safe foods).
But if you ask a sociologist interesting in food and
eating behaviour you will probably get a very
different story, focusing on social determinants of
food choice, like this is likely a traditional farmer’s
family in a rural part of Guatemala, they don’t seem
to be poor, but probably they have limited financial
resources, and a large part of their diet is probably
produced by the family itself.
Both are true and make sense, they only represent
different perspectives on food choice. Truth is that
food and food choice in humans is highly complex
and many many factors play a role. To get a grip on
such a highly complex issue we need models,
models that account for and describe one or more
factors playing a role in food choice.
3 Summary Psychobiology of Food Choice and Eating Behaviour
, After this lecture the student is able to…
• Describe and apply several determinants of food choice/availability.
• Explain the main components of the Food Choice Process model and illustrate them with
examples.
• Explain the main components of the expectancy – value theory, the Theory of Reasoned
Action, and the Theory of Planned Behaviour
• Analyse the differences between EV, TRA, and TPB.
• Describe strengths and weaknesses of TPB (in relation to other models of food choice).
Modelling of food choice
What is food choice? Refers to the selection and consumption of food and beverages. Is about WHAT,
HOW MUCH, WHEN, WHERE AND WITH WHOM WE EAT
Why should you need models? Functions of a model: descriptive/explanation + predictive
Based on model you can form hypothesis.
• Types of models
o Existing vs new models (deductive/inductive) (Inductive: open-minded looking at data
and trying to make sense of it)
o Mono vs multi-factorial (Decide on one factor or more)
o Qualitative vs quantitative
• What models can and cannot do
o Values; simplification, isolate certain variables and ignore others (keep other variables
constant), guidance
o Restrictions; face validity? How well does a model translate to the real world? (lab vs
natural studies debate) May not have complete validity; may not give whole picture.
Determinants of food choice
Food choice refers to the selection and consumption of foods and beverages. ONE EATS WHAT IS
THERE, AND MORE CRITICALLY, ONE DOES NOT EAT WHAT IS NOT THERE
Biggest determinant of what one eats = availability.
Determinants of food choice / availability
• Biological aspects
• Psychological aspects
• Social aspects
• Cultural aspects
Biology and food choice
• (Innate) taste biases
Innate preference for sweet
and avoidance of bitter
• The Omnivore’s dilemma (Rozin): omnivore can basically eat and digest everything, but not
everything is safe. How to find out what is safe without harming ourselves?
o Neophilia: curiosity to try new foods variability
o Neophobia: start with small bite when you try something caution when trying new
foods
For example, species with a specific diet (like panda bears or koala bears) don’t need a complex system
to guide their food choice behaviours. All they need is a largely physiological system to recognize,
detect and moving towards their source of food and nutrition and to reject all others.
4 Summary Psychobiology of Food Choice and Eating Behaviour
