ObjectivesResearch has demonstrated that packaging which includes pictorial health warnings are more effective in altering smokers’ perceptions and intentions as well as changing smoking behaviours compared to text-only health warnings. However, very few studies have investigated the effectiveness of health warnings on alcoholic beveragesMethodsParticipants (N = 60) viewed alcoholic beverages presenting one of three health warnings (No health warning, Text-only, Pictorial) and then responded to questions relating to level of fear arousal and their perceptions toward alcohol use.ResultsWe found that pictorial health warnings were associated with significantly higher fear arousal, increased perceptions of the health risks of consuming alcohol as well as greater intentions to reduce and quit alcohol consumption compared to the control.ConclusionsThese novel findings suggest pictorial health warnings on alcoholic beverages may be an important way of making the public aware of the health risks of alcohol consumption.

a b s t r a c tRecent research demonstrated that noise unconnected to the target stimulus can alter taste perception of food, but it is not clear whether similar effects might be seen with respect to alcohol. This is particularly important, as it might help explain previous reports of higher/faster alcohol consumption in loud music environments. In the between subjects experiment here, participants (n = 80) completed standardised taste and olfactory tests, followed by a taste test of alcoholic beverages varying in strength (0, 1.9, 3.9, 5.6, and 7.5 pct abv) in a randomly allocated distractive or control condition. Distractive conditions were either music, shadow (listening and repeating a news story) or shadow and music (S-Music). We found that exposure to music led to higher sweetness ratings compared to all remaining groups. Interestingly, discrimination of alcohol strength was impaired for individuals in the S-Music compared to remaining groups which was accompanied by increased negative mood. This is the first experimental work to demonstrate how music and other forms of distraction alter taste perception of alcohol and suggest a mechanism by which distraction leads to increases in alcohol consumption.

Although it is generally accepted that the word length effect in short-term memory operates through output delay or interference, there is less agreement on whether it also influences performance through its impact on rehearsal. We investigated this issue by studying the effect of word length on recall and on a recognition task in which output delay was controlled. Word sequences were repeated exactly, or with one pair of words reversed. Two experiments using auditory presentation showed clear word length effects for both recall and serial recognition, although the magnitude of the effect tended to be less for recognition. A third experiment using visual presentation studied the effect of articulatory suppression during the recognition test; again we found a clear word length effect. It is concluded that the word length effect can influence retention through both rehearsal and output factors, as proposed by the phonological loop hypothesis.

The worldwide epidemic of obesity has inspired a great deal of research into its causes and consequences. It is therefore surprising that so few studies have examined such a fundamental part of eating behavior: our sense of smell. The aim of the present study was to examine the differences in olfaction in obese and nonobese individuals. Participants (n = 40) categorized as obese (body mass index ≥ 30) or nonobese (body mass index < 30) completed a standardized olfactory threshold test to an ecologically valid food-related odor (chocolate), followed by a taste test. We found that compared with those not obese, obese individuals rated the chocolate odor as more pleasant and were substantially more sensitive to the odor. There was also evidence that their sense of taste was more acute for sour and salty tastants. Correlational analyses further revealed that those measures of olfaction and taste were positively associated with body mass index. These findings suggest that obese individuals show increased sensitivity and preference for an odor associated with energy dense foods. They also suggest that differences in our sense of smell offer a promising area for future research in obesity.

Understanding how hunger state relates to olfactory sensitivity has become more urgent due to their possible role in obesity. In 2 studies (within-subjects: n = 24, between-subjects: n = 40), participants were provided with lunch before (satiated state) or after (nonsatiated state) testing and completed a standardized olfactory threshold test to a neutral odor (Experiments 1 and 2) and discrimination test to a food odor (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 revealed that olfactory sensitivity was greater in the nonsatiated versus satiated state, with additionally increased sensitivity for the low body mass index (BMI) compared with high BMI group. Experiment 2 replicated this effect for neutral odors, but in the case of food odors, those in a satiated state had greater acuity. Additionally, whereas the high BMI group had higher acuity to food odors in the satiated versus nonsatiated state, no such differences were found for the low BMI group. The research here is the first to demonstrate how olfactory acuity changes as a function of hunger state and relatedness of odor to food and that BMI can predict differences in olfactory sensitivity.