Cognitive processing differences between obese and nonobese subjects

Research in the area of human obesity has investigated a variety of factors believed to affect food intake. The present study measured free recall of food and nonfood words to explore the cognitive processing of food and nonfood stimuli by 60 obese and nonobese female subjects. Intentional learning conditions were employed to test the obesity compliancy effect, and incidental learning conditions were employed to control for the obesity compliancy effect while assessing recall. No significant memory differences were found. The findings imply that the obese and nonobese do not differ in their cognitive processing of food stimuli as measured by memory. More importantly, the study failed to demonstrate an obesity compliancy effect for memory. The obese and nonobese subjects did differ significantly in their weight fluctuation rating, and this finding was compared to Herman's restrained eating theory. Implications for future research and therapy in the area of human obesity are discussed.