How restrained eaters perceive the amount they eat.
The cognitive model of binge eating states that it is the awareness of a broken diet that disinhibits the restrained eater. It is, according to that model, the perception of having overeaten that triggers disinhibited eating. However, although the perception of the amount eaten plays a central role in cognitive restraint theory, it has never directly been tested how restrained subjects perceive the amount of food they eat. In the present studies, participants were given ad libitum access to large amounts of palatable food and both their perception of the amount eaten and their estimated caloric intake were compared with the amount they actually ate. The restrained participants in these studies ate more than the unrestrained participants. In the first and second studies, the restrained participants consumed 571 and 372 'forbidden' calories respectively, without having the feeling that they had eaten very much, let alone too much. Moreover in both studies, the restrained eaters underestimated their caloric intake, whereas unrestrained eaters estimated their caloric intake quite well. The potential implications of the present findings for the cognitive restraint model are discussed.
Department of Experimental Abnormal Psychology, Limburg University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
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Jansen
D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002755:Choice Behavior; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006963:Hyperphagia / Q000523:psychology*; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D007600:Judgment; D014836:Volition