Week 1: Psychology of ingestive behaviour Flashcards
What are the three different psychological models influencing our eating behaviour?
Developmental Model
Weight concern Model
Cognitive Model
What is the key idea of the developmental model regarding ingestive behaviour?
Food behaviour is influenced by associative learning, exposure and social learning through childhood.
Children mimic the food preferences of those around them, tend to avoid new foods and learn safety towards different types of food by exposure.
Choices and patterns in childhood influence us as adults
Body is considered to have an innate wisdom regarding the food it requires.
What is the evidence for and against the ‘innate wisdom of the body’ influencing eating behaviours?
+ cafeteria experiments showed children prefer sweet and avoid bitter but generally choose a balanced diet
+ cravings are linked to dietary deficiencies
- children have an aversion to new foods (neophobe) that can only be overcome by exposure as they learn safety. However exposure is dependent on culture and economic factors
What is meant by associative learning as part of the developmental model of indigestive behaviour?
Food behaviour is learnt by association
Foods associated with a reward may be used as a comfort or confidence boost
Food used as a method of control such as only eating desert after all of dinner may be avoided or over controlled in adulthood
What is social learning in the developmental model of indigestive behaviours?
We model our behaviour on the behaviour we see around us, often of people we view as similar to us (rolemodels) such as our parents
Food behaviours must be given context - we eat certain foods and certain amounts when we are in certain situations (e.g always finish your plate when eating at a friends house)
What model of indigestive behaviours do public health campaigns target the most?
Developmental model - tries to unlearn behaviour learnt in early life or tries to ensure the correct behaviour is learnt as a child
What is the Barker Hypothesis in regards to the developmental model of indigestive disease?
Also known as the developmental origins of adult disease
Suggest that growth restriction of low birth weight can predispose children to obesity and metabolic syndrome
Foetus develops a phenotype to survive a nutrient poor environment
(thrifty phenotype hypothesis)
If the extra-uterine environment is rich in nutrients, the feotus may be maladaptid and have an increased risk of obesity and metabolic disease.
What is the cognitive model of indigestive behaviour?
Believes the cognition (thoughts) predicts and explains eating behaviour.
Based highly on the theory of planned behaviour
Individuals act rationally based on their perceived attitudes, norms and behavioural control
What is the key idea of the theory of planned bhevaiour?
Our behvioural beliefs influence our attitude towards a behaviour
Our normative beleifs (what we think other people think of action) will influence our subject norms (pressure to do a certain thing)
Our percieved behavioural control
Altogether these influence our intentions hence our behaviour
What is hedonic eating?
Consumption of food just for pleasure and not to maintain a homeostasis goal
What is the mechanism behind hedonic eating?
Eating is infered as highly pleasurable as dopamine release activates the mesocorticolimbic reward pathway.
Eating is learned as a way to induce pleasure
Often used in stress induced eating (comfort eating), where sensory cues (stress) and thoughts of foods trigger a raised appetite.
Maladpative way of coping with chronic stress
What two pathway interact to control eating patterns?
Hedonic pathways
Homeostatic pathways
What is the weight concern model of indigestive behaviour?
Food and weigh has a symbolic and emotional meaning that can conflict, often influence by views in society.
Body dissatisfaction and dysmorphia can affect how we act on these meanings in relation to our eating behaviour
How do we measure body dissatifaction?
Stunkard Scale - shown image representations of body shapes
Asked which body shape believe is closet to theirs?
Asked what is their ideal body shape?
Greater discrepancy between ideal and percieved can indicate an eating disorder.
What factors influnce body dissatisfaction?
Social: media, ethnicity and social class, family (mother communicating own dissatifcation to daughters), peer pressure
Psychological: beliefs (of parents and personal), mother daughter relationship is often enmeshed with body thoughts
