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Changing Memories To Improve Nutritional Behavior
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If you have ever gotten sick after eating a certain food, you probably don't want to eat that food again. But what if someone else told you that you had gotten sick? Could a made-up memory have the same impact? A new study shows it can and that this power of suggestion could be helpful for dieters.
"We believe this new finding may have significant implications for dieting," says psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D., from the University of California Irvine. "While we know food preferences developed in childhood continue to adulthood, this work suggests that the mere belief one had a negative experience could be sufficient to influence food choices as an adult."
For the study, 204 students completed questionnaires about their food preferences. Then they were given a computer-generated analysis. Some of it included false feedback that implied participants had gotten sick from strawberry ice cream as a child. These participants were more likely to say they wanted to avoid the food now that they "remembered" they got sick from it as a child. Loftus says further research is needed to see if these effects are lasting when the actual food is put in front of the participant.
This team is working on another study about memory manipulation. Instead of a negative impact, participants are told they especially liked certain vegetables as a child. The team is studying to see if it will make the participant more inclined to eat these foods as an adult.
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If you have ever gotten sick after eating a certain food, you probably don't want to eat that food again. But what if someone else told you that you had gotten sick? Could a made-up memory have the same impact? A new study shows it can and that this power of suggestion could be helpful for dieters.
"We believe this new finding may have significant implications for dieting," says psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D., from the University of California Irvine. "While we know food preferences developed in childhood continue to adulthood, this work suggests that the mere belief one had a negative experience could be sufficient to influence food choices as an adult."
For the study, 204 students completed questionnaires about their food preferences. Then they were given a computer-generated analysis. Some of it included false feedback that implied participants had gotten sick from strawberry ice cream as a child. These participants were more likely to say they wanted to avoid the food now that they "remembered" they got sick from it as a child. Loftus says further research is needed to see if these effects are lasting when the actual food is put in front of the participant.
This team is working on another study about memory manipulation. Instead of a negative impact, participants are told they especially liked certain vegetables as a child. The team is studying to see if it will make the participant more inclined to eat these foods as an adult.