scholarly journals Examining food choice of human females from the evolutionary perspective: The role of sexual selection

2022 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 425
Author(s):  
Kuo ZHANG ◽  
Jinlong SU
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Food Choice ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Human Females

The capacity of short term memory from an evolutionary perspective

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majid Manoochehri
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Cognitive System ◽  
Evolutionary Approach ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

Memory span in humans has been intensely studied for more than a century. In spite of the critical role of memory span in our cognitive system, which intensifies the importance of fundamental determinants of its evolution, few studies have investigated it by taking an evolutionary approach. Overall, we know hardly anything about the evolution of memory components. In the present study, I briefly review the experimental studies of memory span in humans and non-human animals and shortly discuss some of the relevant evolutionary hypotheses.

scholarly journals Perceptual salience influences food choices independently of health and taste preferences

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Dai ◽  
Jeremy Cone ◽  
Jeff Moher
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Food Choice ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Taste Preference ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Perceptual Salience ◽  
Choice Tests

Abstract Background Making decisions about food is a critical part of everyday life and a principal concern for a number of public health issues. Yet, the mechanisms involved in how people decide what to eat are not yet fully understood. Here, we examined the role of visual attention in healthy eating intentions and choices. We conducted two-alternative forced choice tests of competing food stimuli that paired healthy and unhealthy foods that varied in taste preference. We manipulated their perceptual salience such that, in some cases, one food item was more perceptually salient than the other. In addition, we manipulated the cognitive load and time pressure to test the generalizability of the salience effect. Results Manipulating salience had a powerful effect on choice in all situations; even when an unhealthy but tastier food was presented as an alternative, healthy food options were selected more often when they were perceptually salient. Moreover, in a second experiment, food choices on one trial impacted food choices on subsequent trials; when a participant chose the healthy option, they were more likely to choose a healthy option again on the next trial. Furthermore, robust effects of salience on food choice were observed across situations of high cognitive load and time pressure. Conclusions These results have implications both for understanding the mechanisms of food-related decision-making and for implementing interventions that might make it easier for people to make healthy eating choices.

scholarly journals Perseverative Cognition and Snack Choice: An Online Pilot Investigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Timothy M. Eschle ◽  
Dane McCarrick
Keyword(s):  
Food Choice ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Risk Behaviours ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Perseverative Cognition ◽  
Pilot Investigation ◽  
Perseverative Thinking ◽  
Snack Consumption ◽  
Unhealthy Snacks

Perseverative cognition (PC), consisting of worry and rumination, has been consistently linked to a variety of poorer health outcomes, namely via the worsening of stress-induced health risk behaviours. However, research into PC and unhealthy food choice, a key health behaviour, still remains relatively unexplored. In the current pilot investigation, 284 participants were recruited to take part in an online food choice paradigm before completing the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ) and the Brief State Rumination Inventory (BSRI). As a reduced availability of unhealthy snacks has been shown to improve snack choice, participants were randomly allocated to either an even condition (a 3:3 ratio of ≤99 kcal and ≥199 kcal snacks) or an uneven condition (a 4:2 ratio in favour of ≤99 kcal snacks). It was hypothesized that higher levels of PC may predict greater instances of poorer snack choices across, or even within, this paradigm. Despite an increase availability of lower calorie snacks leading to a healthier snack choice, both state and trait PC measures did not significantly influence snack choice irrespective of this varying availability. Although, marginal trends were found for higher state PC and higher calorie crisp selections. The current pilot therefore adds to the growing literature advocating for the use of behavioural economic tactics to engender healthier food choices, yet further work is needed to unpick the mediating role of PC (and its components) in snack consumption paradigms.

scholarly journals Oral Sensitivity to Flowability and Food Neophobia Drive Food Preferences and Choice

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1024
Author(s):  
Sharon Puleo ◽  
Paolo Masi ◽  
Silvana Cavella ◽  
Rossella Di Monaco
Keyword(s):  
Food Choice ◽  
Food Preferences ◽  
Food Neophobia ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Choice Preference ◽  
Food Liking ◽  
Texture Sensitivity ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Oral Sensitivity

The study aimed to investigate the role of sensitivity to flowability on food liking and choice, the relationship between sensitivity to flowability and food neophobia, and its role in food liking. Five chocolate creams were prepared with different levels of flowability, and rheological measurements were performed to characterise them. One hundred seventy-six subjects filled in the Food Neophobia Scale and a food choice questionnaire (FCq). The FCq was developed to evaluate preferences within a pair of food items similar in flavour but different in texture. Secondly, the subjects evaluated their liking for creams (labelled affective magnitude (LAM) scale) and the flowability intensity (generalised labelled magnitude (gLM) scale). The subjects were clustered into three groups of sensitivity and two groups of choice preference. The effect of individual flowability sensitivity on food choice was investigated. Finally, the subjects were clustered into two groups according to their food neophobia level. The sensitivity to flowability significantly affected the liking of chocolate creams and the solid food choice. The liking of chocolate creams was also affected by the individual level of neophobia (p = 0.01), which, in turn, was not correlated to flowability sensitivity. These results confirm that texture sensitivity and food neophobia affect what a person likes and drives what a person chooses to eat.

scholarly journals The effect of within-meal protein content and taste on subsequent food choice and satiety

2011 ◽  
Vol 106 (5) ◽  
pp. 779-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanne Griffioen-Roose ◽  
Monica Mars ◽  
Graham Finlayson ◽  
John E. Blundell ◽  
Cees de Graaf
Keyword(s):  
Protein Content ◽  
Food Choice ◽  
Food Preference ◽  
Food Reward ◽  
Meal Protein ◽  
Sensory Qualities ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Underlying Processes ◽  
Insight Into

It is posed that protein intake is tightly regulated by the human body. The role of sensory qualities in the satiating effects of protein, however, requires further clarification. Our objective was to determine the effect of within-meal protein content and taste on subsequent food choice and satiety. We used a cross-over design whereby sixty healthy, unrestrained subjects (twenty-three males and thirty-seven females) with a mean age of 20·8 (sd 2·1) years and a mean BMI of 21·5 (sd 1·6) kg/m2 were offered one of four isoenergetic preloads (rice meal) for lunch: two low in protein (about 7 % energy derived from protein) and two high in protein (about 25 % energy from protein). Both had a sweet and savoury version. At 30 min after preload consumption, subjects were offered an ad libitum buffet, consisting of food products differing in protein content (low/high) and taste (sweet/savoury). In addition, the computerised Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire (LFPQ) was run to assess several components of food reward. The results showed no effect of protein content of the preloads on subsequent food choice. There was an effect of taste; after eating the savoury preloads, choice and intake of sweet products were higher than of savoury products. No such preference was seen after the sweet preloads. No differences in satiety were observed. To conclude, within one eating episode, within-meal protein content in these quantities seems not to have an effect on subsequent food choice. This appears to be mostly determined by taste, whereby savoury taste exerts the strongest modulating effect. The results of the LFPQ provided insight into underlying processes.

scholarly journals A nudge in the right direction: the role of food choice architecture in changing populations' diets

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
H. Ensaff
Keyword(s):  
Food Choice ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Food Selection ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Choice Architecture ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
The Right ◽  
Care Costs

Populations' diets typically fall short of recommendations. The implication of this on ill health and quality of life is well established, as are the subsequent health care costs. An area of growing interest within public health nutrition is food choice architecture; how a food choice is framed and its influence on subsequent food selection. In particular, there is an appeal to manipulating the choice architecture in order to nudge individuals' food choice. This review outlines the current understanding of food choice architecture, theoretical background to nudging and the evidence on the effectiveness of nudge strategies, as well as their design and implementation. Interventions emphasising the role of nudge strategies have investigated changes to the accessibility, availability and presentation of food and the use of prompts. Empirical studies have been conducted in laboratories, online and in real-world food settings, and with different populations. Evidence on the effectiveness of nudge strategies in shifting food choice is encouraging. Underpinning mechanisms, not yet fully explicated, are proposed to relate to salience, social norms and the principle of least effort. Emerging evidence points to areas for development including the effectiveness of choice architecture interventions with different and diverse populations, and the combined effect of multiple nudges. This, alongside further examination of theoretical mechanisms and guidance to engage and inspire across the breadth of food provision, is critical. In this way, the potential of choice architecture to effect meaningful change in populations' diets will be realised.

Male-male competition, ornamentation and the role of testosterone in sexual selection in red jungle fowl

1990 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. David Ligon ◽  
Randy Thornhill ◽  
Marlene Zuk ◽  
Kristine Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Male Competition ◽  
Red Jungle Fowl

scholarly journals Losses of female song with changes from tropical to temperate breeding in the New World blackbirds

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1664) ◽  
pp. 1971-1980 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jordan Price ◽  
Scott M. Lanyon ◽  
Kevin E. Omland
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
New World ◽  
Female Song ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Apparent Relationship ◽  
Song Production ◽  
Selection For ◽  
The Tropics

Birds in which both sexes produce complex songs are thought to be more common in the tropics than in temperate areas, where typically only males sing. Yet the role of phylogeny in this apparent relationship between female song and latitude has never been examined. Here, we reconstruct evolutionary changes in female song and breeding latitude in the New World blackbirds (Icteridae), a family with both temperate and tropical representatives. We provide strong evidence that members of this group have moved repeatedly from tropical to temperate breeding ranges and, furthermore, that these range shifts were associated with losses of female song more often than expected by chance. This historical perspective suggests that male-biased song production in many temperate species is the result not of sexual selection for complex song in males but of selection against such songs in females. Our results provide new insights into the differences we see today between tropical and temperate songbirds, and suggest that the role of sexual selection in the evolution of bird song might not be as simple as we think.

scholarly journals The Role of the Immune System from an Evolutionary Perspective

2019 ◽  
pp. 198-209
Author(s):  
Carsten Schradin ◽  
Rainer H. Straub
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Medicine ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Life History Stage ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Lifetime Fitness ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Reproductive Life ◽  
Fitness Benefits

“Nothing in Biology makes sense, except in the light of evolution.” This famous citation of Theodosius Dobzhansky also underlies the integrative field of evolutionary medicine, which faces the challenge to combine (patho-)physiological mechanisms with evolutionary function. Here we introduce a concept from the study of animal behavior, which are the four questions of Tinbergen that consider: 1. the ontogeny of an individual describing its development, 2. its physiological machinery, which 3. has fitness consequences influencing 4. the evolutionary history (phylogeny) of future generations. It is shown how this concept can be applied to infectious disease and to chronic inflammatory systemic diseases. Evolutionary medicine takes lifetime reproductive success into account. The hypothesis to be tested is that mechanisms underlying a disease in old age might have higher fitness benefits in the pre-reproductive and/or reproductive life history stage, leading to an overall increased lifetime fitness.

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