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The role of memory ability, depth and mode of recall in the impact of memory on later consumption
It has been demonstrated that the “meal-recall effect” – which reduces snacking – occurs when one remembers a meal consumed a few hours earlier rather than the day before. In this study by Szypula, Ahern & Cheke (2020), the authors recruited and assessed participants’ (n = 77, mean age = 33.30 ± 14.98, mean BMI = 23.77 ± 3.72, 74% female) intake of biscuits during a fictitious taste test in two separate sessions, before which participants remembered a recent or distant meal to reproduce this effect. Secondly, the authors investigated whether variables that might impact meal-memory quality, particularly individual variations in recall depth and memory capacity, would affect the meal-recall effect. To achieve this, only individuals with a low or high capacity for recollection were chosen for the research and placed in either the guided-recall or unguided-recall groups. Participants were asked to remember what they had eaten in the unguided condition and were then prodded for more information about their meal in the guided state. In a conversation with the researcher or by recording their memory on a computer, participants were asked to describe their meal dinner in detail. The authors discovered that, in contrast to the original theories, only the written group showed the meal-recall effect, while the verbal group did not. The participants in the written, guided group seemed to snack on 8 g more biscuits after remembering a recent (vs. remote) meal, while their peers in the written, unguided group consumed about 9 g fewer biscuits after remembering a recent (vs. remote) meal. Memory capacity had no impact on how strong the meal-recall effect was, and the verbal group did not exhibit the meal-recall effect. The authors conclude that their findings emphasize the significance of environmental elements in controlling the meal-recall effect. [NPID: Adult, Body Mass Index, diet, eating, meals, mental recall, snacks, time factors]
Year: 2020
