Ruddock, H. K., Field, M., Jones, A., & Hardman, C. A. (2018). State and trait influences on attentional bias to food-cues: The role of hunger, expectancy, and self-perceived food addiction. Appetite, 131
, 139-147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.08.038
From the research article’s abstract: “Food-related attentional bias (AB) varies both between individuals (i.e. trait differences) and within individuals (i.e. state differences), as a function of a food’s momentary incentive value. People with self-perceived food addiction (SPFA) find food particularly rewarding and may therefore demonstrate increased AB to food-related cues, relative to those who do not perceive themselves as food addicts. However, these trait differences may interact with state factors, such as hunger and the perceived availability of food, to differentially affect AB to food-cues. In the current study, female participants (N = 120) completed an eye-tracking task to assess AB to chocolate pictures in which the expectancy of receiving chocolate was manipulated on a trial-by-trial basis (0%, 50%, 100%). Participants were randomly allocated such that half completed the task when hungry (hungry condition), and half completed the task following a lunch meal (satiated condition).