Meal schemas during a preload decrease subsequent eating.
Two studies examined the effects of the induction of a meal schema on participants' behavior. In the first, participants ate identical preloads either in a traditional meal context or in a non-meal ("tasting session") context where the usual cues associated with meals, such as the use of dishes/utensils and being seated at a table, were present or absent, respectively. In a questionnaire assessing their impressions of the situation, participants in the meal condition gave evidence of the activation of a meal schema while the latter did not. That is, the former, in comparison with the latter, were more likely to spontaneously describe the situation using meal-related words, less likely to describe the situation using taste-related words, and rated the situation as feeling more like a meal. In the second study, participants eating the preload in an identical meal context, in comparison with those eating it in a non-meal context, ate less at a subsequent test meal. It was concluded that social cues in the form of Abstract knowledge about eating in one's culture may sometimes have a greater influence on food intake than physiological cues related to nutritional status.
Pliner
Patricia
P
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, 3359 Missisissauga Road, Mississauga, Ont., Canada L5L 1C6. pliner@psych.utoronto.ca
Zec
Dragana
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001069:Appetite Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003463:Cues; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012931:Social Environment; D013997:Time Factors