Evolutionary explanations for eating behaviour part 2

Today we looked at the burger evaluation tool - I think this will be really useful to you in essay writing. It is a way of structuring research evidence to support or undermine a theory/explanation. We did two examples in class and then started an essay - the title was ' Outline and evaluate evolutionary explanations of food preferences' (8+16). The essay plan is here. This needs to be completed for homework.

Evolutionary explanations of eating behaviour

Today we discussed the EEA (environment of evolutionary adaptiveness) - the environment in which many of our current behaviours were adaptive. They are no longer adaptive because the environment has changed. This is highly relevant to food preferences today - a diet rich in sugars and fats is extremely maladaptive today, but these nutrients were in short supply in the EEA so were favoured.

Today's powerpoint is here.

Make sure you hand in your essay on dieting behaviour tomorrow.

Neural mechanisms underlying eating behaviour

Today we studied the biological approach to eating behaviour - we looked at neural mechanisms that underly eating behaviour and why this is all rather reductionist. We looked at the hormones ghrelin and leptin as well. This is an area heavily supported by animal research - this can be a problem for obvious reasons, and we saw this in the case of leptin which was initially hailed as a miracle cure for obesity.

Today's powerpoint is here.

The worksheet to fill in is here.

The success/failure of dieting.

Today we discussed why diets don't work. We looked at one study (Herman & Mack) in lots of detail - this is one example of a topic where one study will be fine in an essay, as long as you get the most out of it and evaluate it fully. We discussed the boundary model of dieting, and the physiological and cognitive boundaries that we set in place when eating. Restrained eaters (dieters) sometimes overstep the cognitive boundary and then disinhibition (the 'what the hell' effect) sets in

Today's powerpoint is here. The TED talk that we heard today is here.

The next essay is due in on Wednesday 26th November. The title is:

'Discuss explanations for the success and/or failure of dieting (8+16).

A dose of research methods

Today I took some time out from Eating Behaviour to focus on some key terms from research methods. We looked at hypotheses, variables, reliability and validity. These are fairly tedious to study in themselves, but are all really useful ways of evaluating research  - plus there is a RM component to the unit 4 exam.

The powerpoint on reliability is here and the writing frame is here.

The powerpoint on validity is here and the writing frame is here.

Factors which influence eating behaviour

 

Today was in three sections - we looked at how 1) social learning theory, 2) peers and 3) mood can influence our attitudes to food and eating behaviour. Here is the sheet I asked you to fill in on social learning theory.

 

Here is the social learning theory ppt (short as mostly on the sheet) - use your eating behaviour booklets to fill the sheet in.

 

Here is the ppt on culture.

 

Here is the ppt on mood.

 

All the theory is contained in your eating behaviour booklets so please bring these in to every lesson.

 

I have had a request for a lesson or two on research methods as some of the concepts are a bit sketchy, so watch out for this soon.

 

 

Various - Tuesday 4th November

 A few points:

• Some of you have still to hand in the half-term homework (essay on sleep disorders, link here if you need it) - please do so asap.
• Today we reflected on our restoration theory essays, marked a sample essay and finished off the last little bit on sleepwalking (ppt here)
• We started the Eating Behaviour topic and I handed out booklets. Groups brainstormed different factors that affect our attitudes to food and eating behaviour.
• I am not in school tomorrow, Wednesday 5th November. Your work for the lesson is to:

1. Make notes on what social learning theory is
2. Make notes on how social learning influences attitudes to food and eating.

• This needs to be done by next Tuesday 11th November.
• There is no revision session during registration tomorrow.

Narcolepsy & Sleepwalking

Apologies for the late post. Here is the powerpoint on sleepwalking and insomnia that we covered on Wednesday 23rd October.