The imputation of structure in random patterns as a cognitive factor predicting adult picky eating behavior.

We raise the hypothesis that adult picky eating behavior may be related to subjects' tendency to impute structure in random stimuli. We test said hypothesis in an empirical study which operationalizes subjects' objective abilities and subjective decision criteria in discriminating between correlated and independent signals in terms of the classic Signal Detection Theory. A robust regularized Bayesian multiple regression analysis indicates that liberal subjective decision criteria which indicate a tendency to over-impute structure when trying to discriminate between random and correlated patterns are associated with elevated scores of picky eating while controlling for several other variables. The predictive power of our discriminating procedure appears comparable to that of related eating dispositions. Our results strongly suggest that cognitive factors might indeed have substantial and meaningful relationships with certain eating behaviors. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Svetoslav Bliznashki, Velina Hristova. The imputation of structure in random patterns as a cognitive factor predicting adult picky eating behavior. Appetite. 2021 Dec 01;167:105645

Mesh Tags

PMID: 34391841

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