The Effect of Recalling Lunch as a Normative Cue on Subsequent Food Intake

Abstract

Several studies have shown the inhibitory effect of explicitly recalling a recent lunch memory on subsequent snack in-take. However, why recalling a particular memory inhibits food intake remains unclear. This study investigated whether the inhibitory effect was due to lunch memories acting as normative cues for appropriate food intake. We conducted two experiments in this study. In both experiments, before the taste test, participants were asked to write about their lunch (recall) or a topic of their choice (control). Experiment 1 replicated the inhibitory effect, in which the recall group par-ticipants ate less than the control group on the taste test. In Experiment 2, we investigated the inhibitory effect on the intake of low-calorie food, such that participants did not need to worry about overeating and thus did not need to con-sider appropriate food intake. Our results revealed no significant difference in the intake of low-calorie food based on whether participants recalled their lunch memories. The result suggests that recalling lunch memory acts is a normative cue for appropriate food intake.