Hunger & Thinking

Glucose

The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When blood glucose levels are low, we feel hungry

Orexin

When blood-glucose is low, the lateral hypothalamus releases orexin, which makes us even more hungry

Ghrelin

Hormone secreted by empty stomach, tells the brain that you are hungry

PYY

Hormone secreted by digestive tract, tells the brain that you are full and not hungry

Lateral Hypothalamus

The “hunger center” of the brain. When blood glucose is low, the lateral hypothalamus kicks on, releases orexin and we feel hungry

Ventromedial Hypothalamus

The “satiety center” of the brain. When blood glucose is high (after we have eaten), the ventromedial hypothalamus kicks in and we no longer feel hungry

Insulin

Substance released from the pancreas. When blood glucose rises, insulin is released to allow the glucose to move from the blood to the tissues of the body

Leptin

Hormone secreted by fat cells. This causes the brain to increase metabolism and decrease hunger

Set Point

The point at which an individual’s “weight thermostat” is supposedly set. When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight

Basal Metabolic Rate

The body’s resting rate of energy expenditure

Fat Cells Never Go Away

This is why it is hard for people to lose weight. For someone with many fat cells, if they lose weight, the fat cells just shrink but do not disappear. This makes it easier for the person to gain the weight back because the fat cells are already there

Taste Preferences

Preferences for sweet and salty are genetic and universal - conditioning can either intensify or alter those preferences. Culture can impact taste as well

Ecology of Eating

Situations can influence our eating preferences - friends, serving size, stimulating selections, nutrition

Cognition

The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating

Concept

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people

Prototype

A mental image or best example of a category

Ex: Concept: Bird | Prototype: Robin

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The science of designing and programming computer systems to do intelligent things and to stimulate human thought processes, such as intuitive reasoning, learning and understanding language

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

Heuristic

A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

Insight

A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Convergent Thinking

Thinking that narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Divergent Thinking

Thinking that expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions)

Confirmation Bias

A tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions

Fixation

The inability to see a problem from a new perspective

Mental Set

A tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem

Functional Fixedness

The tendency to think of objects only in terms of their usual functions

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore relevant information

Availability Heuristic

Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident in our judgements that are correct— to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments

Framing

The way in which an issue is posed (or worded); this can significantly affect decisions and judgements

Belief Bias

The tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid

Belief Perseverance

Clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited