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Useful Correlates of Body Weight and Food Perception
Author(s) -
Thaw Andrew,
Brewer William
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.594.1
Subject(s) - psychology , dieting , implicit association test , perception , cognition , eating disorders , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , weight loss , obesity , medicine , psychiatry , neuroscience
The use of Implicit Association Tests (IAT's) allow researchers to expose not only a person's biases and attitudes, but also their cognitions that they are either unaware of, or unwilling to reveal. In the present study, we examined the results of IAT's that contained images of foods and accompanying words that were either positive or negative. Our hypothesis concerns the establishment of correlations between IAT results and biometric data (gender, self‐perception, dieting status, etc.). Prior data from this lab revealed consistent alterations in IAT results of subjects with negative, self‐reported attitudes towards excess body weight. Data reported here further support the presence of response bias to certain foods as well as consistent, but moderate correlations between biometric data and IAT responses. Additionally, participants who agreed to a re‐test of the IAT were fitted with an Emotiv EEG Headset to track neural activity during the test. Regional brain activity was correlated with IAT responses to determine generalized evoked potential activity. Unique patterns of EEG activity in a subset of participants suggest brain activity during the IAT that is purportedly related to cognitions concerning body weight. Specifically, participants with the strongest body image concerns had brain activity that differed from participants with little to no reported body image concerns. Use of similar IAT's are ongoing to determine the role such tests could play in predicting subsequent weight gain and/or disordered eating in college students.