Explenatioms For Food Preference, The Role Of Learning

Question 1

What principles are the role of learning based on

Answer 1

Food preferences are acquired through experience and classical/operant conditioning

Question 2

Classical conditioning

Answer 2

-In the context of food preferences, flavour-flavour learning is when we develop a preference for food because we associate it with a flavour we already like
-We have an inmate preference for sweetness so we put sweetener in our coffee, eventually we reduce the levels of sweetness until we just like the coffee by itself

Question 3

Operant conditioning

Answer 3

-Children are directly reinforced for their food preferences mainly by parents
-They provide rewards or punishment and encouragement for eating certain foods
-I’ll give you pudding if you eat your vegetables or I won’t give you pudding if you don’t eat your vegetables

Question 4

Social influences

Answer 4

-Modelling and imitation as a way to learn food preferences
-If a child observed their role model eating a certain food and being rewarded for it, then they are vicariously reinforced and are more likely to imitate that eating behavior

-This is adaptive because it ensures children that they aren’t eating dangerous foods

-Family influences
-Peer influences
-media influences

Question 5

Family influences

Answer 5

Parents are the gatekeepers of a child’s food and eating, having a powerful affect on what the child eats

Question 6

Peer influences

Answer 6

-Birch
-Placed children next to 3 or 4 other children with different vegetable preferences
-After 4 days, the participant children had changed their preferences to that of the non participant children

Question 7

Media influences

Answer 7

-Television advertising for unhealthy foods are often associated with fun related themes for children to identify with

Question 8

Cultural influences

Answer 8

Culture largely determines the type of food we put on the table as well as cultural eating rules and practices

-Culturally norms
-Meat eating
-Learning

Question 9

Cultural norms

Answer 9

-Ideals and attitudes towards what constitutes as a ‘proper meal’ like meat and two veg
-Roast dinner occurs on a Sunday

Question 10

Meat eating

Answer 10

-Culturally tradition in France to eat every part of the animal
-USA eats mostly steak cuts

Question 11

Cultures and learning

Answer 11

-We associate many foods we eat and enjoy as adults with the experience of happiness and security growing up

Question 12

Contradicting research, flavour flavour learning

Answer 12

-Baeyens
-Repeatedly paired an untried food with a soapy flavoured chemical called tween which lead to a long lasting aversion to the food
-These is instead other evidence that suggests more exposure to a food leads to a preference

-Flavour flavour learning is a more efficient explanation for food aversion than food preferences

Question 13

Research support for social learning

Answer 13

-Jansen and Tenney
-Gave children either an energy dense or energy dilute yogurt that they had never tasted before
-The children preferred the energy dense yogurt drink when the teacher also tried it at the same time and praised the child whilst showing clear signs of enjoyment

Question 14

Explains cultural differences

Answer 14

-Rozin
-People innately dislike chilli due to the burn that it causes
-In cultures where chilli is traditionally used, children are gradually and repeatedly exposed to it over time

-Family and cultural influences can switch an inmate food aversion to a preference via learning experience