Flashcards in 11.1 | Hunger and Eating Deck (10)
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1
Motivation
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motivation: the physiological and psychological processes underlying the initiation of behaviours that direct organisms toward specific goals
- includes the physiological and psychological processes underlying the initiation of behaviours that direct organisms toward specific goals
2
Drive
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drive: a biological trigger that tells us we may be deprived so something and causes us to seek out what is needed such as food and water
- when a drive is satisfied, reward centers in our brains become activated and reinforces our behaviour
3
Homeostasis
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homeostasis: the body’s physiological processes that allow it to maintain consistent internal states in response to the outer environment
4
Allostasis
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allostasis: motivation is not only influenced by current needs, but also the anticipation of future needs
- e.g. eating a lot of food when anxious
5
Physiological Aspects of Hunger
- cause can be found in the hypothalamus; a set of "on" and "off" switches on the bottom surface of the brain
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glucose: a sugar that serves as a primary energy source for the brain and the rest of the body
- when glucose levels are too low, the hypothalamus detects this which causes hunger
- insulin stores glucose, which lowers glucose levels and the cycle begins again
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satiation: the point in a meal when we're no longer motivated to eat

6
Psychological Aspects of Hunger
- humans learned that the best strategy was to “eat while you can” because there was no guarantee that another meal would be coming any time soon
- over the course of evolution, our bodies responded to this need with a number of systems that made the consumption of high-energy foods pleasurable
- we crave fats because we have specialized receptors on the tongue that are sensitive to the fat content of food
- sugar and some addictive drugs can stimulate release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region associated with reinforcing effects of amphetamines and cocaine; sugar can be addictive
- we stress eat because the principle of allostatsis causes us to forsee a stressful event in the future, so it's better if we prepare now
7
Attention and Eating
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unit bias: the tendency to assume that the unit of sale or portioning is an appropriate amount to consume
- e.g. the bottomless bowl of soup; participants who ate 70% more than the control group didn't report feeling more satiated
- e.g. the stale popcorn experiment; those with the large bags ate more, even if the popcorn tasted like cardboard
8
Eating and the Social Context
- whether the presence of other people increases or decreases our motivation to eat is influenced by the social situation
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social facilitation (eating more): dinner hosts encourage guests to take several helpings; as well, the longer a person sits socializing the more like they are to continue eating
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impression management (eating less): self-conciously controlling behaviour so that others will see them in a certain way; e.g. chewing with your mouth closed is polite
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minimal eating norm: a social norm indicating that eating smaller portions is more polite
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modelling (eating whatever they eat): e.g. being at a company dinner and not eating too much, then hanging out with your friends and eating a ton even though you're full
- minimal eating norm: a social norm indicating that eating smaller portions is more polite
9
Obesity
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obesity: a disorder of positive energy balance, in which energy intake exceeds energy expenditure
reasons obesity rates are so high:
- the huge variety of foods available
- we still crave fatty foods due to our evolutionary needs, but nowadays there aren't long periods of time where people go hungry
- the poor are more heavily affected because cheap foods tend to be unhealthy
10
Anorexia and Bulimia