The influence of approach and avoidance motor actions on food intake

How head and visual movements affect evaluations of food products

Many studies suggest that specific movements or postures with shared social meaning can influence mainly verbal stimuli evaluation. On the other hand, several visuospatial biases can interact with this influence. Thus, we tested whether both head and stimuli movements can influence individual attitude towards food pictures. In two experiments, we used images of common foods with a weak positive valence in association with two kinds of movements. In Experiment 1, head movement was induced by presenting food pictures with a vertical or horizontal continuous movement on a computer screen. Conversely, Experiment 2 was conducted to test the effects of participants' own head movements with respect to the same food pictures presented in a fixed position. In neither case did head movements influence product evaluation. However, Experiment 1 revealed that the continuous movement left-right-left in the horizontal condition improved the desire to buy and eat, as well as the willingness to pay for the product shown. Two further experiments, the Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrated, respectively, that this effect disappears if the stimulus does not make the return direction, and that it does not depend on the starting or final placement of the images on the screen. These findings are discussed in the context of embodied cognition and visuospatial bias theories.

Close or far? Affect explains conflicting findings on motivated distance perception to rewards

Research on motivated perception has yielded conflicting findings: Whereas Balcetis and Dunning (2010) showed that people approaching (vs. avoiding) rewarding objects (e.g. food) see them as closer, Krpan and Schnall (2014a) found the opposite. Furthermore, whereas Balcetis (2016) suggested that people who perceive rewarding objects as closer (vs. farther) should subsequently consume more, Krpan and Schnall (2017) showed that they actually ate less. We introduce affect as the missing link to explain these conflicting findings. Two experiments showed that approach and avoidance can either involve, or lack, an affective experience, which in turn determines how they influence perception, and how perception is related to behavior. Consistent with Krpan and Schnall (2017), non-affective approach (vs. avoidance) motivation made candies look farther; seeing candies as farther in turn predicted increased consumption (Experiment 1). In contrast, consistent with Balcetis and Dunning (2010), affective approach (vs. avoidance) motivation made these stimuli look closer; seeing candies as closer was associated with more being eaten (Experiment 2). Our findings therefore reconcile previous inconsistencies on motivated perception, and suggest that people's view of their surroundings is more dynamic than previously assumed.

Tanztherapie in der Psychosomatik

Zusammenfassung. Sowohl die Tanztherapie, als auch die Embodiment-Forschung und die Psychosomatische Medizin stellen die Wechselwirkung von Körper, Psyche und Umwelt ins Zentrum ihrer Aufmerksamkeit. Ausgewählte Facetten des Embodiment werden in Bezug gesetzt zu tanztherapeutischen Interventionen bei psychosomatisch erkrankten Patientinnen und Patienten und durch Fallbeispiele veranschaulicht. Es werden zuträgliche und kritische Bedeutungen der Embodiment-Forschung für die Weiterentwicklung der Tanztherapie und mögliche Beiträge der Tanztherapie zur Embodiment-Forschung betrachtet.

A dual systems account of visual perception: Predicting candy consumption from distance estimates

A substantial amount of evidence shows that visual perception is influenced by forces that control human actions, ranging from motivation to physiological potential. However, studies have not yet provided convincing evidence that perception itself is directly involved in everyday behaviors such as eating. We suggest that this issue can be resolved by employing the dual systems account of human behavior. We tested the link between perceived distance to candies and their consumption for participants who were tired or depleted (impulsive system), versus those who were not (reflective system). Perception predicted eating only when participants were tired (Experiment 1) or depleted (Experiments 2 and 3). In contrast, a rational determinant of behavior-eating restraint towards candies-predicted eating for non-depleted individuals (Experiment 2). Finally, Experiment 3 established that perceived distance was correlated with participants' self-reported motivation to consume candies. Overall, these findings suggest that the dynamics between perception and behavior depend on the interplay of the two behavioral systems.

Effects of Imagined Consumption and Simulated Eating Movements on Food Intake: Thoughts about Food Are Not Always of Advantage

Imagined food consumption is a method of elaborately imagining oneself eating a specific food that, when repeated 30 times, has been shown to decrease subsequent intake of the same food. The technique relies on a memory-based habituation process when behavioral and motivational responses to a stimulus decrease after its repeated presentation. Thus, repeatedly imagining food consumption leads to food-specific habituation effects. Large numbers of imagined consumption repetitions are effortful and time consuming and can be problematic when applied in interventions with the goal of reducing food intake. In the present study, we assessed the efficacy of the technique at smaller numbers of repetitions while testing motor simulation as a potential facilitator of the habituation-based consumption-reduction effect. 147 participants imagined eating chocolate pudding 15 or 3 consecutive times and simultaneously performed either facilitating or not-facilitating eating movements. Results showed that participants who imagined eating the chocolate pudding 15 times (M₁₅ = 178.20, SD₁₅ = 68.08) ate more of the pudding than those who imagined consuming it 3 times (M₃ = 150.73, SD₃ = 73.31). The nature of the motor movements that were performed did not impact this effect. The data suggest that the imagined food consumption technique can result in an unexpected increase in food consumption, when smaller numbers of imagination repetitions are performed.

The influence of approach-avoidance motivational orientation on conflict adaptation

To deal effectively with a continuously changing environment, our cognitive system adaptively regulates resource allocation. Earlier findings showed that an avoidance orientation (induced by arm extension), relative to an approach orientation (induced by arm flexion), enhanced sustained cognitive control. In avoidance conditions, performance on a cognitive control task was enhanced, as indicated by a reduced congruency effect, relative to approach conditions. Extending these findings, in the present behavioral studies we investigated dynamic adaptations in cognitive control-that is, conflict adaptation. We proposed that an avoidance state recruits more resources in response to conflicting signals, and thereby increases conflict adaptation. Conversely, in an approach state, conflict processing diminishes, which consequently weakens conflict adaptation. As predicted, approach versus avoidance arm movements affected both behavioral congruency effects and conflict adaptation: As compared to approach, avoidance movements elicited reduced congruency effects and increased conflict adaptation. These results are discussed in line with a possible underlying neuropsychological model.

Get in my belly: food preferences trigger approach and avoidant postural asymmetries

Appetitive motivational states are fundamental neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying healthy and abnormal eating behavior, though their dynamic influence on food-related behavior is unknown. The present study examined whether personal food-related preferences would activate approach and avoidance systems, modulating spontaneous postural sway toward and away from food items. Participants stood on a balance board that collected real-time data regarding postural sway along two axes (x, y) while they viewed a series of images depicting food items varying in nutritional value and individual preferences. Overall, participants showed reliable postural sway toward highly preferred and away from highly non-preferred items. This effect became more pronounced over time; sway along the mediolateral axis showed no reliable variation by preference. Results carry implications for two-factor (homeostatic versus hedonic) neurobehavioral theories of hunger and appetitive motivation, and carry applied clinical implications for the measurement and management of abnormal eating behavior.

Motion as motivation: using repetitive flexion movements to stimulate the approach system

Research suggests that having a healthy approach system is critical for adaptive emotional functioning. The goal of the current study (n=186 undergraduates) was to determine the efficacy of an easy-to-disseminate and cost-efficient strategy for stimulating this system. The experiment tested the effects of repeated flexion movements (rFM) on approach system activation as measured by both self-report (BAS scales) and behavior. The results showed that rFM increased approach system motivation in men but not women. Men who completed the rFM task reported significantly greater levels of fun-seeking motivation than men in the control task. Moreover, the rFM task led to changes in actual behavior. Men who completed the rFM task exhibited significantly greater persistence on a difficult laboratory task than men in the control task. In contrast, women who completed the rFM task reported significantly lower levels of fun seeking and tended to exhibit less persistence on a difficult laboratory task than women in the control task. These results provide support for embodied theories of emotion as well as additional evidence for a gender difference in approach-avoidance tendencies.

The embodied cognition theory and the motor component of "yes" and "no" verbal responses

Most of the experiments which give theories of embodied cognition their empirical anchorage only take into consideration the motor responses induced by the task or the motor component of the visual stimulus. And yet, these motor responses are often associated with a linguistic answer. Our hypothesis is that "YES" and "NO" verbal responses have a motor component. In a first experiment we showed that producing a verbal response (YES vs. NO) involves motor planning (pushing vs. pulling): participants push a lever more quickly when they have to answer "yes" than "no", and conversely, they pull a lever more quickly when they have to answer "no" than "yes". Moreover, in a second experiment, we showed that perceiving the words "YES" and "NO", on its own, leads to the same motor planning than when "yes" and "no" answers actually have to be produced. Participants detect the word "YES" faster when they have to push a lever than when they have to pull it and conversely they detect the word "NO" faster when they have to pull the lever than when they have to push it down. These results are discussed in reference to "online" and "offline embodiment" concepts and to the cognitive linguistic theories.

Environmental influences on energy balance-related behaviors: a dual-process view

Background

Studies on the impact of the 'obesogenic' environment have often used non-theoretical approaches. In this journal's debate and in other papers authors have argued the necessity of formulating conceptual models for differentiating the causal role of environmental influences on behavior.

Discussion

The present paper aims to contribute to the debate by presenting a dual-process view on the environment – behavior relationship. This view is conceptualized in the EnRG framework (Environmental Research framework for weight Gain prevention). In the framework, behavior is postulated to be the result of a simultaneous influence of conscious and unconscious processes. Environmental influences are hypothesized to influence behavior both indirectly and directly. The indirect causal mechanism reflects the mediating role of behavior-specific cognitions in the influence of the environment on behavior. A direct influence reflects the automatic, unconscious, influence of the environment on behavior. Specific personal and behavioral factors are postulated to moderate the causal path (i.e., inducing either the automatic or the cognitively mediated environment – behavior relation). In addition, the EnRG framework applies an energy balance-approach, stimulating the integrated study of determinants of diet and physical activity.

Conclusion

The application of a dual-process view may guide research towards causal mechanisms linking specific environmental features with energy balance-related behaviors in distinct populations. The present paper is hoped to contribute to the evolution of a paradigm that may help to disentangle the role of 'obesogenic' environmental factors.

Kontextabhängige Kreativität

Zusammenfassung. Menschliche Kreativität ist nicht nur ein Persönlichkeitsmerkmal, sie wird vielmehr stark durch den sozialen Kontext beeinflusst. Unsere motivationale Theorie der Kreativität basiert auf der regulatorischen Fokustheorie und dem Stimmung als Informations-Ansatz. Wir nehmen darin an, dass Menschen durch Reize in der Umgebung in einen Promotion Fokus der Annäherung oder einen Prevention Fokus der Vermeidung versetzt werden können. Ein Promotion Fokus begünstigt kreatives Denken, während ein Prevention Fokus dieses eher behindert. In zahlreichen Experimenten fanden sich hypothesenkonforme Ergebnisse, die in einem Überblick zusammengefasst werden sollen. Weiterhin werden neuere Ergebnisse präsentiert, die zeigen, dass vor allem die starke Perseveranz auf konventionellen Lösungen zu einer Minderung der Kreativität in einem Prevention Fokus führt. Abschließend sollen erste Experimente präsentiert werden, die zeigen, dass Annäherungsmotive die rechte Gehirnhälfte aktivieren, was wiederum kreatives Denken fördert, während Vermeidungsmotive die linke Gehirnhälfte aktivieren, was analytisches Denken fördert. Die Befunde werden auf der Grundlage bestehender Theorien diskutiert und Konsequenzen für den Alltag werden aufgezeigt.