Acquisition and generalization of appetitive responding in obese and healthy weight females

This could point towards an increased tendency in obese individuals to overgeneralize appetitive responding to stimuli that resemble the conditioned food cue – possibly explaining frequent eating desires and overeating in obesity. The current study aimed to investigate whether obese individuals 1) indeed exhibit appetitive learning deficits and 2) show overgeneralization of conditioned appetitive responses.

Obese and matched healthy-weight females (N = 85) completed a differential appetitive conditioning task using food as rewards. First, appetitive responding to a novel stimulus was learned (acquisition phase), after which stimuli with varying resemblance to the food-associated stimulus were presented (generalization phase). Cue-elicited eating expectancies, eating desires, stimulus evaluations, and actual food intake were examined.