Evolutionary explanations for food preferences

• What is does EEA stand for ?

  the environment of evolutionary adaption
• What does the evolutionary explanation state?

  Natural selection favoured traits which allowed survival

  • African Savannah- humans seperated as species
  • Food preferences that promotes survival and avoiding food that doesnt
• What does seligman claim about the evoluntionary explanation of food preferences?

  different species have 'biologically preparedness' so they can learn association more easily, particularly those that promote survival
• How are we innately adapted to prefer salty foods?

  hot african savannah salty foods needed to replace salt lost through sweating
• How are we innately adapted to prefer sweet foods?

  early humans relied on sweet fruit that were available for their survival

  more energy
• How are we innately adapted to prefer fatty foods?

  Rich in calories

  energy resources were vital to stay alive so hunters sought fatty foods that were rich in calories
• Why are we innately adapted to dislike Sour foods?

  Ancestors to avoid expired foods

  adapted to dislike sour foods

  only people who disliked survived meaning genes would carry on- gene pool

  reinforce dislike
• Why do humans innately dislike bitter foods?

  dislike bitter tastes as a defense mechanisms to detect harmful toxins in plants

  discouraged people from eating them meaning they survived
• What is Taste Aversion learning?

  an innate predisposition to learn to avoid potentially dangerous foods.

  Develops after ingestion of food that causes nausea, sickness or vomiting.
• why is it an adaptive advantage to have taste aversion learning?

  survival mechanism that train the body to avoid poisonous substances before they can cause harm
• What age does taste aversion learning occur?


  at any age
• What is Food Neophobia?

  An innate predisposition to avoid anything new.

  the fear of eating new foods
• Why is it an adaptive advantage to have food neophobia?


  avoids possible toxic foods
• what age does food neophobia occur?

  ages 2 to 6
• What is a strength of the evolutionary explanation of food preference?

  Research supports the evolutionary explanation
• What did Harris et al. find regarding babies and sweet foods?

  Babies smile when first given sweet foods
• What preference do babies show for salted cereal?

  Babies prefer salted cereal
• What does the preference for sweet and salty foods suggest?

  There is an innate preference for these foods
• Who provided evidence for the evolved preference for fat?

  Gibbs and Wardle
• What did Gibbs and Wardle find about food preferences?

  We are born with a preference for fat
• Which foods were mentioned as preferred by humans?

  Bananas and potatoes
• How does the evolutionary theory relate to survival?

  It suggests preferences encourage survival
• What negative real-world application does the explanation have?

  The food industry exploits our evolutionary bias
• What problems have arisen from the exploitation of evolutionary bias?

  High sugar diets and health issues
• Who conducted research on taste aversion?

  Garcia et al.
• What did Garcia et al. find about rats and taste aversion?

  Rats developed aversion after becoming ill
• How does taste aversion support the evolutionary theory?

  It shows predisposition to avoid harmful foods
• What did Rosenstein and Oster find in their research?

  Babies show aversion to bitter tastes
• What does the aversion to bitter tastes indicate?

  It supports the evolutionary food preference theory
• What limitation does the evolutionary explanation have regarding food preference?

  It overlooks social and cultural influences
• What does the evolutionary approach fail to explain about food preferences?

  It does not account for contemporary influences