Location

Nessmith-Lane Atrium

Session Format

Poster Presentation

Research Area Topic:

Humanities & Social Sciences - Psychology, Sociology & Political Science

Abstract

In 2003 the Pew Research Center conducted a study which found the 70% of college students play some form of electronic game (video, computer, internet) (Jones, 2003), and it is our belief that this data has only increased with the iPhone take-over that took place in 2007. In 2015 the CDC reported that nearly 35% of adults in the United States are considered overweight or obese, and has been found to be a key influence in the onset Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and numerous other health concerns, to include mental illness in the form of depression, high anxiety, and eating disorders. This was one of the many reasons that our research team, under the leadership and supervision of Dr. Janice N. Steirn, Ph.D., undertook the opportunity to research a potential influence on the increasing overweight and obesity levels in adults, and more generally, college age students: snacking. Our preliminary experiment will consist of Georgia Southern University students recruited through the psychology department‰Ûªs SONA website. Participants will be placed in the lab with a tablet loaded either a food stimulus matching game or a non-food stimulus matching game (controlling for level of difficulty and relatively equivalent game objectives), and will also be provided with three snacking options which will be pre-measured by the researchers. Participants will play the game for approximately ten minutes. Researchers will then collect demographic information, to include participant‰Ûªs last oral intake, height, and weight. The bowls will then be remeasured to determine the amount of snacks that the participants consumed during their time playing the game. While this experiment is only a pilot study consisting of a small sample size and basic controls, there is potential for findings which could be dramatically influential in the fields of psychology in treating persons with eating disorders and the often times attached illnesses that can come with being overweight or obese (i.e. depression and anxiety). Outside the fields of psychology, however, the research could be vital in maintaining overall health and prevention of diseases that are linked with obesity (i.e. type 2 diabetes and heart disease). The research hypothesis contends that participants who play the game consisting of food stimuli will consume more snacks than participants who play the game with non-food stimuli.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Presentation Type and Release Option

Presentation (Open Access)

Start Date

4-16-2016 2:45 PM

End Date

4-16-2016 4:00 PM

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Apr 16th, 2:45 PM Apr 16th, 4:00 PM

Influence of Game Stimuli on Participant Snacking

Nessmith-Lane Atrium

In 2003 the Pew Research Center conducted a study which found the 70% of college students play some form of electronic game (video, computer, internet) (Jones, 2003), and it is our belief that this data has only increased with the iPhone take-over that took place in 2007. In 2015 the CDC reported that nearly 35% of adults in the United States are considered overweight or obese, and has been found to be a key influence in the onset Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and numerous other health concerns, to include mental illness in the form of depression, high anxiety, and eating disorders. This was one of the many reasons that our research team, under the leadership and supervision of Dr. Janice N. Steirn, Ph.D., undertook the opportunity to research a potential influence on the increasing overweight and obesity levels in adults, and more generally, college age students: snacking. Our preliminary experiment will consist of Georgia Southern University students recruited through the psychology department‰Ûªs SONA website. Participants will be placed in the lab with a tablet loaded either a food stimulus matching game or a non-food stimulus matching game (controlling for level of difficulty and relatively equivalent game objectives), and will also be provided with three snacking options which will be pre-measured by the researchers. Participants will play the game for approximately ten minutes. Researchers will then collect demographic information, to include participant‰Ûªs last oral intake, height, and weight. The bowls will then be remeasured to determine the amount of snacks that the participants consumed during their time playing the game. While this experiment is only a pilot study consisting of a small sample size and basic controls, there is potential for findings which could be dramatically influential in the fields of psychology in treating persons with eating disorders and the often times attached illnesses that can come with being overweight or obese (i.e. depression and anxiety). Outside the fields of psychology, however, the research could be vital in maintaining overall health and prevention of diseases that are linked with obesity (i.e. type 2 diabetes and heart disease). The research hypothesis contends that participants who play the game consisting of food stimuli will consume more snacks than participants who play the game with non-food stimuli.