Abstract
Inhibitory control training effects on behaviour (e.g. ‘healthier’ food choices) can be driven by changes in affective evaluations of trained stimuli, and theoretical models indicate that changes in action tendencies may be a complementary mechanism. In this preregistered study, we investigated the effects of food-specific go/no-go training on action tendencies, liking and impulsive choices in healthy participants. In the training task, energy-dense foods were assigned to one of three conditions: 100% inhibition (no-go), 0% inhibition (go) or 50% inhibition (control). Automatic action tendencies and liking were measured pre- and post-training for each condition. We found that training did not lead to changes in approach bias towards trained foods (go and no-go relative to control), but we warrant caution in interpreting this finding as there are important limitations to consider for the employed approach–avoidance task. There was only anecdotal evidence for an effect on food liking, but there was evidence for contingency learning during training, and participants were on average less likely to choose a no-go food compared to a control food after training. We discuss these findings from both a methodological and theoretical standpoint and propose that the mechanisms of action behind training effects be investigated further.
Highlights
The recent rise in overweight and obesity rates can primarily be attributed to the over-consumption of energy-dense foods that are high in fat, sugar and/or salt content [1]
Training effects on automatic action tendencies H1a participants would show a reduction in approach bias for no-go foods compared to the control foods, from pre- to post-training H1b participants would show increased approach bias for go foods compared to the control foods, from pre- to post-training H2
We found that overall baseline bias scores did not statistically deviate from zero, which suggests that either participants in this sample did not have any approach bias for the selected foods in the first place or that the employed variant of the avoidance task (AAT) was not sensitive enough to capture both baseline bias and potential effects of training
Summary
The recent rise in overweight and obesity rates can primarily be attributed to the over-consumption of energy-dense foods that are high in fat, sugar and/or salt content [1]. Constant exposure to energy-dense foods in the environment can induce approach bias, or cravings, towards those foods and lead to over-consumption in individuals with limited self-control (trait or state), even when this behaviour is incompatible with health-related goals [5,6]. Theoretical frameworks, such as the reflective–impulsive model, have led to the development of behaviour change interventions for ‘unhealthy’ eating behaviours (e.g. overeating). Nederkoorn et al [15] showed that strong implicit preferences for snacks paired with low ‘inhibitory control capacity’ predicted weight gain over 1 year
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