想象进食可减少相关进食量

Thought for Food: Imagining Food Consumption Reduces Actual Consumption

Science：想象进食可减少相关进食量

译者：Docofsoul

ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2010) — If you're looking to lose weight, it's okay to think about eating your favorite candy bar. In fact, go ahead and imagine devouring every last bite -- all in the name of your diet.

《每日科学》2010年12月11日报道 —— 如果你想减肥的话，无妨想象一下正在吃你最喜欢的食品。事实上，在大快朵颐之前想象自己狼吞虎咽把眼前的美食吃得一点不剩可以有效减少你的实际进食量。

A new study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, published in Science, shows that when you imagine eating a certain food, it reduces your actual consumption of that food. This landmark discovery changes the decades-old assumption that thinking about something desirable increases cravings for it and its consumption.

由卡内基·梅隆大学（CMU）的研究者在《Science》发表的一项新的研究显示：当你想象摄食一种特定食品时，可以减少你对该食品的实际摄入量。这一里程碑式的发现一举推翻了几十年来根深蒂固的主观臆断： 对某种想拥有的事物的联想会提高你的相关欲望并增加相应的消耗量。



Drawing on research that shows that perception and mental imagery engages neural machinery in a similar fashion and similarly affect emotions, response tendencies and skilled motor behavior, the CMU research team tested the effects of repeatedly imagining the consumption of a food on its actual consumption. They found that simply imagining the consumption of a food decreases ones appetite for it.

有研究显示感知活动与精神想象以类似的方式参与神经机制、并以相似的方式影响情感、响应趋势以及娴熟的动作行为。受此启示，研究者测试了反复想象进食一种食品对实际摄入该食品的摄入量的影响。他们发现：简单的想象进食一种食品降低了进食者对该食品的食欲。

"These findings suggest that trying to suppress one's thoughts of desired foods in order to curb cravings for those foods is a fundamentally flawed strategy," said Carey Morewedge, an assistant professor of social and decision sciences and lead author of this study. "Our studies found that instead, people who repeatedly imagined the consumption of a morsel of food -- such as an M&M or cube of cheese -- subsequently consumed less of that food than did people who imagined consuming the food a few times or performed a different but similarly engaging task. We think these findings will help develop future interventions to reduce cravings for things such as unhealthy food, drugs and cigarettes, and hope they will help us learn how to help people make healthier food choices."

社会与决策科学助理教授、论文的第一作者Carey Morewedge 说：“这些发现提示我们：为了阻止自己对爱吃的食品的欲望而尝试压制自己的相关欲念根本就是一种南辕北辙的错误策略。我们的研究发现与此策略相反：反复想象进食美味的食品——比如说M&M巧克力或一块奶酪，比起只想象少许几次或（想象进食）不同（食品或其它）但类似的任务的人来，其实际进食该食品时其摄入量减少了。我们认为，这些发现将有助于开发未来的干预手段，以减少对诸如不健康的食品、***以及香烟之类事物的欲望； 同时也希望这些发现有助于我们学习如何有效地帮助人们对食品作出更健康的选择。

For the study, the research team, which included Young Eun Huh, Tepper School of Business Ph.D. candidate, and Joachim Vosgerau, assistant professor of marketing, ran a series of five experiments that tested whether mentally stimulating the consumption of a food reduces its subsequent actual consumption. In the first experiment, participants imagined performing 33 repetitive actions, one at a time.

为了研究，该研究小组（包括太帕商学院候选博士Young Eun Huh与市场行销助理教授Joachim Vosgerau）作了一系列实验（五个），实验测试了研究对象的想像摄食对实际进食量的影响。在第一个实验中，参与者想象执行33个重复的动作，一次一个动作。

A control group imagined inserting 33 quarters into a laundry machine (an action similar to eating M&M's). Another group imagined inserting 30 quarters into a laundry machine and then imagined eating 3 M&M'S, while a third group imagined inserting three quarters into a laundry machine and then imagined eating 30 M&M'S. Next, all participants ate freely from a bowl filled with M&M'S. Participants who imagined eating 30 M&M'S actually ate significantly fewer M&M'S than did participants in the other two groups.

对照组想象将33枚硬币一枚枚地放进洗衣机的投币口（其行为与将33颗M&M巧克力豆一颗颗放进嘴里相当）。另一组则想象将30枚硬币放进洗衣机投币口、然后想象将3颗M&M巧克力豆放进嘴里，第三组则想象将3个硬币放在投币口再想像吃30颗M&M巧克力豆。接下来，给所有参与者满满的一碗M&M巧克力豆，随意吃。此前想象吃了30颗M&M巧克力豆的人吃得远比其它两组的研究对象少。

To ensure that the results were due to imagined consumption of M&M'S rather than the control task, the next experiment manipulated the experience imagined (inserting quarters or eating M&M'S) and the number of times it was imagined. Again, the participants who imagined eating 30 M&M'S subsequently consumed fewer M&M'S than did the participants in the other groups.

为了确认该结果是由想象进食M&M巧克力豆引起而非对照的任务所导致，接下来的实验改变了所想象的经历（将硬币放入投币口或想像吃M&M巧克力豆）与所想象的次数。结果再次显示，想象进食30颗M&M'S巧克力豆的参与者实际进食的巧克力远比其它两组的参与者少。

The last three experiments showed that the reduction in actual consumption following imagined consumption was due to habituation -- a gradual reduction in motivation to eat more of the food -- rather than alternative psychological processes such as priming or a change in the perception of the food's taste. Specifically, the experiments demonstrated that only imagining the consumption of the food reduced actual consumption of the food. Merely thinking about the food repeatedly or imaging the consumption of a different food did not significantly influence the actual consumption of the food that participants were given.

最后三个实验显示想像进食后实际进食量减少是因为习服（habituation）—— 想更多地进食该食品的心理动力水平逐渐下降——而不是取代性心理过程（比如心理启动或感觉到该食品滋味的变化）。明确地说，该实验证实了仅仅靠想象进食该食品就减少了实际进食量。如果只重复想象该食品或想象进食另外一种不同的食品并不能显著影响研究对象进食研究者所给的食品的实际摄入量。

"Habituation is one of the fundamental processes that determine how much we consume of a food or a product, when to stop consuming it, and when to switch to consuming another food or product," Vosgerau said. "Our findings show that habituation is not only governed by the sensory inputs of sight, smell, sound and touch, but also by how the consumption experience is mentally represented. To some extent, merely imagining an experience is a substitute for actual experience. The difference between imagining and experiencing may be smaller than previously assumed."

Vosgerau 说：“习服是决定我们对一种食品或产品的消耗量的基本过程之一，该过程也决定何时停止进食该食品、何时开始转向进食另一种食品。我们的发现显示习服不仅仅是由视、嗅、声、触觉等感觉输入的支配，也受进食经历的精神再现水平所支配。在某种程度上，仅仅想像一种经历就可以替代实际的经历。想像与实际经历的差异可能比此前设想的要小得多。“

Other implications of this research include the discovery that mental imagery can enact habituation in the absence of pre-ingestive
sensory stimulation and that repeatedly stimulating an action can trigger its behavioral consequences.

本研究的其它方面意义包括精神想像可能使习服在摄食前感觉刺激缺如的情形下就能形成、重复刺激一种行为可触发该行为的后果。

This research was funded by a grant awarded to Morewedge from the Berkman Faculty Development Fund at Carnegie Mellon.

本研究的资金为卡内基 ? 梅隆大学伯克曼教职员工发展基金（Berkman Faculty Development Fund）授予Morewedge的津贴。

Docofsoul译于2010年12月13日星期一

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Thought for Food: Imagining Food Consumption Reduces Actual Consumption

ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2010) — If you're looking to lose weight, it's okay to think about eating your favorite candy bar. In fact, go ahead and imagine devouring every last bite -- all in the name of your diet.

A new study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, published in Science, shows that when you imagine eating a certain food, it reduces your actual consumption of that food. This landmark discovery changes the decades-old assumption that thinking about something desirable increases cravings for it and its consumption.

Drawing on research that shows that perception and mental imagery engages neural machinery in a similar fashion and similarly affect emotions, response tendencies and skilled motor behavior, the CMU research team tested the effects of repeatedly imagining the consumption of a food on its actual consumption. They found that simply imagining the consumption of a food decreases ones appetite for it.

"These findings suggest that trying to suppress one's thoughts of desired foods in order to curb cravings for those foods is a fundamentally flawed strategy," said Carey Morewedge, an assistant professor of social and decision sciences and lead author of this study. "Our studies found that instead, people who repeatedly imagined the consumption of a morsel of food -- such as an M&M or cube of cheese -- subsequently consumed less of that food than did people who imagined consuming the food a few times or performed a different but similarly engaging task. We think these findings will help develop future interventions to reduce cravings for things such as unhealthy food, drugs and cigarettes, and hope they will help us learn how to help people make healthier food choices."

For the study, the research team, which included Young Eun Huh, Tepper School of Business Ph.D. candidate, and Joachim Vosgerau, assistant professor of marketing, ran a series of five experiments that tested whether mentally stimulating the consumption of a food reduces its subsequent actual consumption. In the first experiment, participants imagined performing 33 repetitive actions, one at a time. A control group imagined inserting 33 quarters into a laundry machine (an action similar to eating M&M's). Another group imagined inserting 30 quarters into a laundry machine and then imagined eating 3 M&M'S, while a third group imagined inserting three quarters into a laundry machine and then imagined eating 30 M&M'S. Next, all participants ate freely from a bowl filled with M&M'S. Participants who imagined eating 30 M&M'S actually ate significantly fewer M&M'S than did participants in the other two groups.

To ensure that the results were due to imagined consumption of M&M'S rather than the control task, the next experiment manipulated the experience imagined (inserting quarters or eating M&M'S) and the number of times it was imagined. Again, the participants who imagined eating 30 M&M'S subsequently consumed fewer M&M'S than did the participants in the other groups.

The last three experiments showed that the reduction in actual consumption following imagined consumption was due to habituation -- a gradual reduction in motivation to eat more of the food -- rather than alternative psychological processes such as priming or a change in the perception of the food's taste. Specifically, the experiments demonstrated that only imagining the consumption of the food reduced actual consumption of the food. Merely thinking about the food repeatedly or imaging the consumption of a different food did not significantly influence the actual consumption of the food that participants were given.

"Habituation is one of the fundamental processes that determine how much we consume of a food or a product, when to stop consuming it, and when to switch to consuming another food or product," Vosgerau said. "Our findings show that habituation is not only governed by the sensory inputs of sight, smell, sound and touch, but also by how the consumption experience is mentally represented. To some extent, merely imagining an experience is a substitute for actual experience. The difference between imagining and experiencing may be smaller than previously assumed."

Other implications of this research include the discovery that mental imagery can enact habituation in the absence of pre-ingestive sensory stimulation and that repeatedly stimulating an action can trigger its behavioral consequences.

This research was funded by a grant awarded to Morewedge from the Berkman Faculty Development Fund at Carnegie Mellon.

Docofsoul edited on 2010-12-13 12:45